•;W«9»^-' ft««^'. 








(>oi]^'ri^!!tN°_ 



COPVRICIIT DEPOSIT. 



\ 



This edition is limited to three hundred numbered 
copies, of which this volume is Number 



THE CITY 
THAT MADE ITSELF 



The City 
That Made Itself 

A Literary and Pictorial Record 
of the Building of Seattle 



By Welford Beaton 




TERMINAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
SEATTLE 






COPYRIGHTED 1914 
BY WELFORD BEATON 



^ 

X 



Press of Lowmac & Hanford Co. 
Plates by Western Engraving & Colortype Co. 



DEC -5 1914 

)C!.A;i88608 



To tne Memory of 

Jarnb iFurtl? 

a kinaly man wnose calm judgment 
and nelping hand were ever at tne 
command of nis friends, and -tvnose 
counsel helped the author when 
the work ^vas heing planned 

this hook ahout the city in -svhose huild- 
ing he played such an important part 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER ONE 
Why Seattle? A Question Answered — Page 

Mysterious Law of City Building 5 

Civic Fundamentals 6 

The Indian Troubles 6 

Saving the Telegraph 7 

Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad 7 

Judge Burke's Stand for Lav*' cind Order 8 

Anti-Chinese Riots 8 

The Fire of 1889 9-10 

Coming of the Great Northern I I 

The Klondike Rush 1 1 

Navy Yard, Army Post, Government Canal 12 

Building of the Nebraska 12-13 

Some Self-Built Firms 1 4 

John Leary's Enterprise I 5 

The Lumber Interest 1 5 

The Fishermen and Alaska... _ |6 

As a Theatrical Center I 6-i 7 

The Seattle of Today | 7-18 

CHAPTER TWO 
When Seattle Wore Swaddling Clothes — 

John C. Holgate, First Settler 19 

Arrival of Denny Party 19 

A. A. Denny, a Natural Leader 19-20 

Selection of the Name 2 1 -22 

Yesler's Saw Mill 22 

Its Value to the Settlement 22-24 

Lumbering the Chief Industry _ 24 

Dexter Horton's Bolt of Cotton 25-26 

Henry L. Yesler 27 

John Collins 27 

James M. Colman 28 

John Leary 28 

John J. McGilvra 28-29 

Arthur A. Denny 29 

George Kinnear 29 

Angus Mackintosh 29 

CHAPTER THREE 

How Seattle Outgrew Her Boundaries — 

The First Incorporation 30 

Some Early Ordinances 30-31 

The Second Incorporation.. 31 

IX 



X The City That Made Itself 

CHAPTER THREE— Continued 

How Seattle Outgrew Her Boundaries — Continued — Page 

H. A. Atkins, First Mayor 31 

First Extension of Boundaries 32 

Acquiring Additional Territory by Annexation 32 

The Present Land and Water Area 32-33 

Seattle's Mayors 34 

CHAPTER FOUR 
How Seattle Won Her Railroad Fight — 

Northern Pacific a Jupiter 35 

The Spirit of the Early Settlers 36 

A Wonderful Fighting Record 36 

Hopes Center in Snoqualmie Pass 36 

Seattle Loses the Terminus 37 

Birth of Seattle Spirit 38 

Seattle Starts to Build a Railroad 38-39 

James M. Colman to the Rescue 39 

Seattle Fights Northern Pacific 40 

State Goes Into Gambling as a Business 41 

"Orphan Road" 42 

Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern 43 

Burke and Gilman Raise Money 44 

Circumventing a Writ 44-45 

Daniel Hunt Oilman's Faith 46 

Creation of Railroad Avenue ._ 46 

Building East from Spokane 47 

Northern Pacific Surrenders 47 

Value of the Fight 47 

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 47-48 

Oregon- Washington 48 

J. D. Farrell 48 

CHAPTER FIVE 

Coming of the Great Northern Railroad — 

Seattle Desperate for a Road . 49 

Judge Burke Startled 49-50 

The Reason for Railroad Avenue 50 

"Common User" Clause Applied for the First Time 51 

Northern Pacific Fights 5 I -52 

Judge Burke Buys Land .53-54 

His Telegram to James J. Hill 54 

Cutting the Lumber Rate 55 

Seattle's Wretched Depot 56 

Northern Pacific Makes an Offer 56 

Hill Hurries to Seattle 57 

The Tunnel Beneath the City 59 

L. C. Gilman Succeeds Burke 60 

Judge Burke's Estimate of James J. Hill 60-63 



Contents ^^ 

CHAPTER SIX 

When the Hills Were Brushed Aside — Page 

Hills Stand in the Way of Commerce 64 

Reginald H. Thomson's Work - - 65 

Planning the Regrades - 67 

Steam Shovels and Streams of Water 68 

Thomson's Continuous Fight -.. -. 69 

Dates of Regrades .--. - 69 

Who Cut the Stick? - -- - 70 

The Great North Trunk Sewer.. 71 

CHAPTER SEVEN 
How Seattle Secured Her Water Supply — 

Spirit of Combat Strong 74 

F. H. Whitworth Suggests Cedar River 74 

Financial Difficulties 75 

"Big Interests" Versus "Common People" 76 

Thomson Converts Judge McGilvra 77 

Thomson's Great Work for Purity of Water 78 

Seattle's First Water System 79 

City Acquires the Plants 80 

Cedar River Suggested 82 

The Present System 83 

CHAPTER EIGHT 
Sixty Years' Struggle for Lake Canal — 

Thomas Mercer's Prediction 84 

Lake Washington Improvement Company 84 

Various Routes Proposed 85 

An Incident at a Banquet 86 

Eugene Semple Appears on Scene 87 

McGilvra and Burke Hold Aloof 91 

King County Acquires Right of Way 92 

Will H. Parry Takes a Hand 94 

Peace Is Restored 95 

James A. Moore Offers to Build 96 

Lake Washington Canal Association 96 

Actual Work Commenced 98 

CHAPTER NINE 
From Horse Car to Electric System — 

When Oats Were Important..... 100 

Frank H. Osgood Comes to Town 100 

Terminus on a Wharf... 101 

John Leary Bumps His Guests 102 

Osgood Begins to Dig a Canal 103 

Enter F. T. Blunck and L. H. Griffith 104 



XII The City That Made Itself 

CHAPTER NINE— Continued 

From Horse Car to Electric System — Continued — Page 

The Line Opened 1 06 

J. C. Haines Has His Doubts 107 

System Successful from the First 107 

Griffith Assumes Command 1 07 

Some Amusing Incidents 1 08 

Cable Company Organized 1 10 

Fights for Possession of Streets 110 

Griffith Builds in a Hurry 1 1 1 

D. T. Denny & Sons Acquire the System 1 1 1 

CHAPTER TEN 

Stone and Webster Enter the Field — 

W. J. Grambs Suggests Jacob Furth 1 13 

Union Electric Company Purchased 113 

Financial Troubles Beset Roads 116 

Stone and Webster Take Command 1 1 7 

The Present Admirable System 118 

CHAPTER ELEVEN 

When Electric Lights Were Turned On — 

The Worry of the Crooked Wire 120 

Seattle Again a Pioneer 121 

Success Compels Extensions 1 22 

Stone and Webster Acquire a Foothold 124 

Stone and Webster Increase Plant 125 

Paget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company 125 

Seattle's Municipal Railway and Lighting Plant 126 

CHAPTER TWELVE 

From Village Weekly to the City Daily — 

Seattle's First Newspaper 128 

How Editor Watson Operated 129 

Puget Sound Semi- Weekly 1 29 

Hanfords Enter the Field 129 

The Times 1 30 

The First Daily 1 30 

Post-Intelligencer 1 30 

Leigh S. J. Hunt 131 

James D. Hoge Becomes a Publisher 131 

George Turner and the Pipers 131 

Enter John L. Wilson 132 

Taylor and Bone Acquire the Post-Intelligencer 133 

Seattle Press 1 34 

Press-Times 1 34 

Alden J. Blethen Arrives 134 

E. H. Wells Founds the Star and the Sun 1 35 



Contents XIII 



CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

The Schools of Yesterday and Today — Page 

Intellectual Development Not Neglected 137 

The First School Building 1 38 

Organized on Permanent Basis 1 39 

"The School Boom" | 39 

Cutting Out the Marbles 140 

Those Who Have Served as Directors 140 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

How THE University Came to Seattle — 

The Spoils of War 142 

Bagley Shows Energy | 43 

Denny Donates Land 1 43 

New Site Acquired ) 44 

The Present Staff j 45 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

Acquiring the Parks and Boulevards — 

Seattle's Wonderful Setting 1 47 

The First Park 1 47 

Olmstead Plan Adopted \ 48 

People Supply the Money |48 

Many Playgrounds and Field Houses 149 

The Bathing Beach 1 50 

E. F. Blaine, Father of System 15 | 

J. M. Frink, a Valuable Citizen 152 

W. E. Bailey's Early Work 152 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

Chamber of Commerce, a Fighting Force — 

Unorganized Activities of the Early Days 154 

John Leary Wemts a Tug 155 

Judge Burke's Wild Ride '.'. .'1^^^ 156 

Chamber of Commerce Organized 157 

Work for Alaska Railroad ." ". 159 

Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition ...160-162 

Seattle Commercial Club 1 63 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 

From the Log Cabin to the Skyscraper — 

The Nerve of the First Builder 164 

The First Skyscraper 1 65 

Metropolitan Building Company 1 65 

G. Henry Whitcomb's Enterprise 166 

How Seattle Secured the Smith Building 167 



XIV The City That Made Itself 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

The Mail, the Telegraph and Telephone — Page 

When Mail Came by Canoe 170 

The First Postmaster 1 70 

The Telegraph 1 72 

John M. Lyon Selects Seattle I 73 

The First Telephone 1 74 

Alaska Cable 1 75 

CHAPTER NINETEEN 

The City's Strong Financial Position — Page 

Dexter Horton's First Bank I 77 

Arthur A. Denny Becomes a Partner I 77 

Jacob Furth a Factor 1 77 

Good Showing in 1893 Panic 178 

Present Day Figures 1 79 

Million Dollar Banks 1 80 

Banks and Their Directors 1 80-1 83 

CHAPTER TWENTY 

How Women Started Library — 

Women the Leaders 1 84 

Public Library Launched 184 

Charles Wesley Smith 1 85 

Library Destroyed by Fire 186 

Andrew Carnegie Appealed to 187 

Dr. Llwyd Beards the Lion 189 

Mrs. J. C. Haines the Real Founder 191 

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 

When John Collins Got a Gas Franchise — 

John Collins Becomes Ambitious 192 

He Provides a Second Tank 192 

An Early Merger 1 93 

Another Company Enters Field 193 



Jacob Furth, Banker and Good Citizen 194-196 

Index 261-275 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Jacob Furth Frontispiece"^ 

Page 

Dexter Horton, opposite 8 

Development of Seattle Harbor, opposite 16'' 

Members of the Original Party That Landed at Alki Point, between 24 and 25 '^ 

Seattle's Original Boundaries, opposite 32 

Bird's-eye View of Seattle in 1878, opposite 36 

The Center of Railway Activity in 1883 and Now, opp>osite 44*^ 

Seattle's First Depot and Railroad Avenue, opposite 48~^ 

John J. McGilvra, opposite 56'^ 

A Bit of Mountain Scenery, opposite 64' 

Two Regrade Views, opposite 68' 

How Streets in Wholesale District Were Built Up on the Tidelands, opposite 76* 

Progress That Three Decades Have Witnessed, opposite 80' 

John Leary, opposite 88' 

Old Denny Hotel and Buildings Which Have Been Reared Where the Hill It 

Occupied Stood, opposite 96 

The First Street Car and a Modern Interurban Car, opposite 100 

The Gray Skyline of a Seattle Night, opposite 108 

Chart Showing the History of the Street Railway and Electric Light Development 

in Seattle, opposite I 12^ 

John Collins, opposite 120"^ 

Looking Up Cherry Street from First Avenue, opposite 128 

Alaska Building and the Corner It Changed, opposite 132 

Changes in Pioneer Place, opposite 140 

Two Views of Third and Union, opposite 144' 

Henry L. Yesler, opposite 152 

Metropolitan Building Company's Group, oppjosite 160'' 

Three Decades of Change in First Avenue, opposite 164*^ 

An Early-Day Picture and a Recent One Taken from the Same Sf)ot, opposite 1 11/ 

Seattle's First Bank, opposite 176'^ 

J. M. Colman, opposite 184'' 

Development of the Commercial District, opposite 192'' 

Regrade Views 197-213''' 

Views of Seattle's Yesterdays and Todays 215-237'^ 

Some Typical Seattle Buildings 239-249 " 

Playground Views 25 1 and 253'' 

Alki Bathing Beach... 255 "^ 

Leschi Park 257'' 

"Roosevelt," a Tree in Ravenna Park 259'^ 

XV 



PREFACE 

Whether this is a history of Seattle will really depend on the 
individual reader's conception of what constitutes history. I think it 
is, and I offer it as such, but 1 offer it with diffidence because it does 
not seem to be anything like the kind of history that used to worry 
me at school. My painful recollection is that it was more important 
to know the date of the Dred Scott decision than it was to be ac- 
quainted with what the decision was about. If that were history, 
then I am a poor historian. True, I have many dates in my book, 
and I flaunt them proudly as a concession to that other idea of his- 
tory, but I never went out of my w^ay to get one of them! They 
merely happened to lie beside the paths 1 follow^ed in my search for 
the REASON for things and 1 picked them up as I went along. 
Those that were beyond my ready reach I left alone and have slurred 
the omission over — as you will see for yourself as you read — by the 
use of such expressions as "about that time " so-and-so happened. It 
seemed to me that the important feature was WHY it happened, not 
WHEN, and 1 also reasoned that the w^hy vs^as much more easily 
remembered than the w^hen, and my aim has been to tell a story of 
the making of Seattle that the reader will remember. 

Mr. William Pigott suggested to me nearly one year ago that 
I write the history of the Seattle regrades and publish pictures with 
it in order that the record of the various operations that civic sur- 
geons performed w^ould be put in permanent form for the instruc- 
tion of future generations of Seattle's citizens. From that sugges- 
tion the present volume has grown. I found that to properly lead 
up to the regrades, I had to find out for myself why there w^as a city 
here at all; I had to go back to the beginning and to garner a crop 
of whys that span a period of sixty years. I found that the regrades 
were one of the least interesting features of the city's development, 
and that the fights w^aged by the early pioneers for the very existence 
of Seattle w^ould make a fascinating story. Greatest of these, of 
course, was the fight for a railroad — so I tell it in detail. Then I 
thought it would be interesting to relate how Seattle obtained the 
Lake Washington Canal, her matchless w^ater supply, her electric 
lights and street railway's, her parks, her libraries, her schools and 
university, her gas, telegraph, and telephones. Her newspapers and 
her Chamber of Commerce I found have always fought for her, so 
I included them. I already knew — as you do — how she got her in- 
dustries, wholesale houses, retail stores, theatres, and churches. They 
came because there was population here — a fact so self-evident that 
I have not bothered to put it in my book. It might interest you, I 
reasoned, to know^ who had nerve enough to give Seattle its first 

I 



The City That Made Itself 



street car, while you v^ould never be consumed with curiosity as to 
the time Jones opened his grocery store; it is more important to 
know who made Seattle a city than it is to learn the name of the 
firm that came here to profit by it. 

Politics I have ignored entirely. Some other historian may 
come along and tell you of the political fights that Seattle has had 
— vs^hy this administration went in and why the other went out — as 
it may be his conception of history, and yours, but I cannot see how 
it has any bearing at all on the life of the city. Once upon a time 
Seattle was ruled by a Board of Aldermen and a House of Delegates 
— that much I discovered while studying the Cedar River fight — but 
w^hen she started such a system or when she terminated it 1 have no 
idea. But I do know — you can find it in its proper place — howr and 
why Seattle started to fill her tidelands. I know^ that in 1914 Seattle 
tried to change her charter — it is so recent I can remember it — but 
how many other attempts, successful or unsuccessful, she has made 
along the same line I have not taken the trouble to ascertain, but I 
spent wrecks finding out just how the city secured her first transcon- 
tinental railroad. Somebody, 1 don't know^ w^ho, was Mayor of the 
city when the Government finally yielded to Seattle's pressure and 
decided to dig the canal, but there is no evidence that indicates that 
his election in any way influenced the authorities at Washington. 

I am not saying that politics is not an essential part of history; 
I am merely emphasizing the fact that I do not think so. 

My task has been long and hard, but simple. It w^as to give 
Seattle a better understanding of herself. TTie difficulty I had in col- 
lecting all the facts, many of them not even printed in the papers at 
the time of their occurrence, has quite persuaded me that there was 
no one person living in Seattle who was familiar w^ith all the ro- 
mance that there was in her making. Existing records were of little 
use to me, for it was my constant aim to dig deeper than they went, 
and it was only by dovetailing memory with memory that I pieced 
out the whole. 

I hope that in this book Seattle can view herself. She should be 
proud of the reflection for she has a history replete with deeds of 
civic valor, self-sacrifice, strugs^le and pluck. The great bulk of her 
population came after she had made herself a city. If these com- 
paratively new arrivals read the story of her making they will be as 
proud of her past as they are of her present, and more than ever 
equipped to meet the emergencies that mav aripe in her future. My 
aim has been to put into the hands of those who live here now a 
record of the progress made to date, in order that they can turn to it 
in years to come and eet some sense of the debt they owe to those 
who came before and did the hardest work. 



Preiace 3 

And to hold the story and the pictures that accompany it I 
have endeavored to design a book that is worthy of the subject. There 
is something in the feel of a good book that is as satisfying as the 
contemplation of a masterpiece in oils or marble. 1 aimed high, but 
I believe the printers and pressmen and binders caught my idea. 

I am indebted to many people for assistance and encourage- 
ment, to so many in fact that I will content myself with timidly ex- 
pressing the hope that the completed w^ork will justify the help they 
gave it, and that if they are pleased with it they will accept the 
pleasure as my thanks. 

WELFORD BEATON. 
Seattle, November I, 1914. 



CHAPTER ONE. 



WHY SEATTLE? A QUESTION ANSWERED 



IN studying the history of man's endeavor there is no more inter- 
esting subject for speculation than the mysterious law that 
makes a city here and leaves the plain over there to be turned 
for ages by the ploughshare of the farmer. London, the greatest city 
of any age, rose from a foggy sw^amp; Paris began on an island in 
the Seine and overflow^ed to the mainland; Rome w^as erected on 
one of the most unhealthy spots in Europe; Venice was built in the 
sea and became the greatest commercial center of the world ; Chicago 
was built in a swamp and for years was the American capital of 
fever and ague. Yet each of these places grew great by reason of 
natural conditions. London was inland for protection and on a 
river for commerce; Chicago had Lake Michigan for water commerce 
and the rich fields of Illinois behind her, so v^hen the railways com- 
menced to crawl across the then western lands there they made a 
center. 

When once an embryonic city reaches a certain stage in its 
climb to population and affluence it takes the rest of the grade by 
virtue of the impetus given it in its early struggles. Nowhere does 
success beget success more strikingly than in city building. In the 
case of Seattle only the foot of the hill has been reached, but her 
shoulders have rid themselves of the load that early bore them down 
and she faces the incline with a confidence built on half a century 
of struggle, her back unbent by the burdens when the journey was 
rough, and comfortable in the knowledge that the way is clear. 

Yet to get thus far on the journey Seattle has had a strenuous 
struggle. Her history is romantic and is a story of successive vic- 
tories over apparently overwhelming odds. It is usual to refer to 
the first years of any community as its time of struggle and travail, 
and to the first people in any community as the brave pioneers who 
provided the foundation upon which succeeding generations built, 
but of few communities can the terms be used as fittingly as they 
can of Seattle, for if any other city in America has had as formidable 
obstacles to overcome, my research in municipal history has failed 
to reveal its name. 

For nearly a score of years a great transcontinental railway com- 
pany used all the ingenuity and energy that had pushed its line 
from Lake Superior to Puget Sound to crush the life out of Seattle 
— ^yet Seattle is Seattle today. It was not merely the neglect of the 



The City That Made Itself 



road to serve it with which Seattle had to contend, but the active, 
powerful, aggressive enmity of the great organization. 

Why, then, did Seattle grow? Why not Tacoma, which se- 
cured the railway? Why not Olympia, which was a thriving town 
when Seattle was born? Why not Port Townsend, Steilacoom and 
other points on Puget Sound that can now take sad satisfaction from 
the fact that one day they were greater than Seattle? 

Seattle possessed the civic fundamentals — location and men of 
the right sort. The former she can never part with; the latter she 
still has. Her greatness is natural, her future assured. 

To Arthur A. Denny, William N. Bell and C. D. Boren belong 
the credit for selecting the site for Seattle, but had they passed it by 
and located elsew^here a city would still have risen some day on the 
ground that Seattle covers, for nature laid out the surrounding coun- 
try with a view to Seattle being its center, and Denny, Bell and 
Boren read the signs rightly. The wise men of Olympia laughed at 
them, but they carried their axes into the forests and began to carve 
out their homes. 

The Seattle Spirit, which became the city's greatest asset, was 
the result of prenatal influence; before the tovs'n was born Denny 
and Boren, by moving their lines and giving him some of the land 
they had laid out for themselves, induced Yesler to bring his saw- 
mill here. When the first plat was filed on May 23, 1853, it showed 
the provision the founders had made for Yesler's convenience, open- 
ing a wide strip through their claims by which his land beyond theirs 
could have access to tidewater. That was the first exhibition of civic 
enterprise given by the new community. 

In view of the long fight it was to begin a score of years later 
it perhaps did Seattle no harm to get its first experience in fighting 
early in its career. While it was still a hamlet the Indians gave 
trouble, culminating on January 26, 1 856, in a pitched battle, in 
which the United States sloop of war Decatur — the first naval vessel 
to lie in Seattle's harbor — saved the day for the town. The battle 
impressed upon the few settlers the gravity of the life of a pioneer 
who sought to make his home in the forests that had long been the 
undisputed domain of the first Americans. By standing shoulder to 
shoulder the settlers learned their first lesson in the value of united 
action for the defense of the community. In the years to come there 
were many calls for shoulder-to-shoulder fighting and right valiantly 
were the battles waged. 

In 1873 there was another evidence of civic spirit that is sig- 
nificant as pointing a reason why Seattle became great. At that 
time the whole country was suffering from financial depression and 



The Seattle & Walla Walla 



Seattle was not too far on the outskirts to feel the effects of it. The 
company owning the telegraph line which served the Coast from 
San Francisco decided to discontinue the service north of Portland. 
Headed by Arthur A. Denny eighteen men contributed one hundred 
dollars each and presented it to the telegraph company as advance 
payment on tolls. The telegraph was important to the mills in the 
vicinity and the town did not wish to be cut off from communication 
with the outside world. Some of the contributors used up their 
credit with the company, but Mr. Denny and others continued to pay 
cash for such messages as were sent to them collect. 

At this time Seattle's fight for its railroad was on. The Northern 
Pacific had been steadily advancing to the Sound and all the communi- 
ties on its shores had feverish hopes of being selected as the terminus. 
Seattle reasoned that it must be the chosen spot; it based all its 
future hopes upon its conviction, and, not for a moment conceding 
defeat, it was totally unprepared for the news it received on July 1 4, 
1873, that Tacoma had been selected. It was a blow that would 
have crushed a weaker community. The tovs^n reeled under the 
force of it and the people gathered in bewildered groups to discuss it. 
Again the civic spirit rose triumphant. Eight days after the receipt 
of the news the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation 
Company was organized with capital stock of ten million dollars. 
The group of men which launched the enterprise must always be 
accorded a place high on Seattle's honor roll. The directors w^ere 
A. A. Denny, John Collins, Franklyn Mathias, Angus Mackintosh, 
H. L. Yesler, James McNaught, J. J. McGilvra, Dexter Horton and 
J. M. Colman. It was this road, as is told in detail later in these 
pages, that the people of Seattle commenced to build with their own 
hands. American municipal history does not hold a parallel example 
of civic self-reliance and determination. The community was small, 
in the scheme of things it amounted to little, yet it faced the mighty 
task with a grim smile that never left its face until, a score of years 
later, the fight w^as won. 

The struggle developed giants. No help came to the town from 
the outside except in the shape of new settlers whose decision to 
make Seattle their home was influenced by the fight she was making. 
Thus the city grew on her own strength and enrolled recruits with 
each succeding year. It was the crucial time of Seattle's history and 
during it was fostered a power of execution that is Seattle's richest 
heritage today. TTie reason for her growth lay in the stout hearts of 
her warriors. 

Most of the fighters of that day are gone. Of the great con- 
structive generals who laid the foundation few remain. Of the sur- 
vivors the most prominent is Judge Thomas Burke. He has never 



£ The City That Made I tself 

laid down his arms but is still in the front rank whenever there is 
anything to fight for. The research that the preparation of this 
glimpse of Seattle's upbuilding made necessary reveals the hand of 
Judge Burke in every movement undertaken after his arrival for the 
advancement of the city. Of fighting blood, superb mental powers, 
great breadth of vision, persuasive eloquence, broad education and 
indomitable courage, he was, and continues to be, one of the pxJW- 
erful factors in the development of Seattle. For two score years he 
has been the city's chief collector, as he has circulated subscription 
lists on behalf of every conceivable proposal that first met with his 
strict but generous conception of civic welfare, and at the head of 
every list his own name stood. In the days when money was hard 
to get his contributions to funds for railway development totaled 
thirty thousand dollars. True, this expenditure was in the nature of 
an investment, but it was made at a time when nothing but con- 
sideration for the public welfare justified such a drain on his private 
resources. Incidentally, it was a poor investment as such for it even- 
tually returned only twenty-eight thousand dollars and no interest. 

At the time of the Anti-Chinese riots in 1885 Judge Burke, 
then a successful and brilliant young attorney, took a stand for law 
and order which not only proved him to be a man of invincible per- 
sonal courage, but breathing, as it did, his inborn sense of the im- 
partial administration of justice, had an important, even if subtle, 
influence on the life of the city. Quite as ridiculous, but far more 
harmful than the craze which has swept over the American nation 
in 1914 to acquire steps in new dances, did the feeling against the 
Chinese, beginning in Wyoming and spreading to the Pacific Coast, 
become an obsession in 1 885. In practically all other prominent 
western cities the Chinese residents were badly treated, driven from 
their homes, their property destroyed and in some cases their lives 
forfeited to the storm of prejudice and passion aroused against them. 
In Seattle an effort was made to repeat the outrages of other cities, 
but at once the law^-abiding citizens, under the leadership of Judge 
Burke, John Leary, G. M. Haller, Judge Hanford, Sheriff John H. 
McGraw and others, took a stand against it that resulted in Seattle 
being the only city in the West in which the Chinese residents were 
protected and the law upheld. In the only clash between the law- 
abiding element and the mob one man w^as killed and one wounded. 
Warrants for the arrest of Judge Burke, Rev. L. A. Banks, E. M. 
Carr, Frank Hanford and David H. Webster on a charge of shoot- 
ing w^ith intent to kill were issued and served on the men while 
they w^ere in the court house attending a conference of the leaders 
of the Home Guards. It was merely a ruse of the mob to get the 
men in its hands and was known as such to both sides of the 





'-^^7.. 



A Dramatic Moment 



controversy. For the prisoners to leave the court house for the 
justice court meant death, as the streets were filled w^ith a w^ildly 
excited crovs^d that had been baffled in its assault upon the Chi- 
nese. The civil authorities vs^ere powerless to render assistance 
in face of such tremendous odds. Those in the court house coun- 
selled the prisoners against accompanying the constable to the 
justice court. 

"We will go," said Burke quietly. "I have been preaching 
submission to the law. Just because submission to it imperils 
my personal safety is no reason why I should not submit." The 
other prisoners echoed his sentiments. 

Against Burke the feeling of the mob was particularly bitter, 
for it had been his impassioned eloquence that previously had 
stayed the hand of the mob and prevented an outbreak. The men 
lined up with the constable and not one of them ever expected 
to reach the justice court alive. The constable, with Burke at his 
side, was just about to step out to the mob-infested street when 
there was a scurrying on the floor above, where Judge Roger S. 
Greene, W. H. White, then United States Attorney, Governor 
Watson C. Squire, Judge Hanford, G. M. Haller and other promi- 
nent citizens had been holding a conference. Martial law had 
been declared by Governor Squire at that dramatic moment and 
the men were saved. 

This is a book of things accomplished — not a narrative of 
eulogistic biography — but I dwell on the incident of Judge Burke's 
heroic stand for law and order because consideration of it helps 
us to answer the question to which this chapter is devoted — Why 
Seattle? 

A community that fostered such an inexorable demand for 
the impartial administration of law and order, that refused to 
be swayed by the hysteria that prevailed in its civic neighbors, must 
have had in it all the time the germ of greatness. Champions who 
could so calmly face the imminence of personal danger from the 
most unruly force on earth — a mob gone wild — were fit to lead 
any cause or any community. In Tacoma the mob held sway, 
and Tacoma, then almost as large as Seattle, is today scarcely one- 
third the size of the city that resisted the outbreak instead of 
yielding to it. 

The great fire of 1 889 was a factor in the building of the 
city in that it cemented the civic spirit still more firmly. Through 
periods of vicissitudes and struggle Seattle had gained a popula- 
tion of forty thousand people; it had built a modern city and had 
commenced to feel that the way was clear before it — and then at 
2:45 in the afternoon of June 6, 1889, a glue pot was overturned 



10 The City That Made Itself 

in a building at the southwest corner of First Avenue and Madison 
Street, and before the resultant flames were stopped practically the 
whole business district of the city was destroyed. From University 
Street south to Charles Street on the tideflats, and from the w^ater- 
front to Third Avenue the flames held sway. Some of the buildings 
on the eastern side of Second Avenue, notably the Boston Block, 
and several north from there on Third Avenue, were saved, but a 
total damage of some fifteen million dollars was done, w^ith but 
three millions in insurance to offset it. 

The frontiersmen had had another challenge; fate lit a torch 
which called to arms the enterprise and spirit of the people and 
while the ashes were still warm the task of building the city again 
began. The men upon whom the city relied, who had fought her 
battles in the past, again rose to the emergency and proved equal 
to the task. 

It v^as after the fire that Seattle had an opportunity of show^ing 
the stuff it was made of. While the ruins were yet smouldering the 
people of the stricken city met in the Armory to plan the rehabilita- 
tion of Seattle. The city of Tacoma had established relief headquar- 
ters on the present site of the Postoffice at Third and Union. In 
addition to this Tacoma in one hour raised $1 0,000 cash for relief and 
subsequently made its cash contribution double that amount. San 
Francisco sent $10,000 cash, Olympia $1,000 and Virginia City, 
Nevada, $4,000. It was before these cash contributions w^ere received, 
however, that the people gathered at the Armory. Previous to the 
fire several thousand dollars had been raised for the sufferers from the 
Johnstov^^n flood, but the money had not been sent when the fire broke 
out. A suggestion made at the. meeting that the money raised for 
Johnstown should be diverted to the urgent need at home vs'as 
promptly how^led down, the w^hole meeting, with one great 
voice, shouting, "Send the money to Johnstown!" In a stirring 
speech. Judge Cornelius Hanford scorned the suggestion that Seattle 
should take the money that was already pledged to the Eastern 
sufferers, and he was cheered to the echo. Judge John P. Hoyt, then 
a powder in the financial w^orld, pledged the support of the banks to 
the efforts of the people to rebuild on the ruins. Angus Mackintosh 
and Jacob Furth promised that their respective banks w^ould be of all 
the assistance possible and would not make any effort to profit by the 
fire. Watson C. Squire struck the chord that w^as dominant in the 
meeting when he stated that he vv^as all ready to commence building 
and was merely waiting until the bricks of the old structure became 
cool enough to remove. Seattle received assistance from the outside 
gratefully, but it asked nothing. Tacoma's extraordinary relief work 
did a great deal to heal the breach that existed between the two cities. 



When the Portland Came 11 

and no matter what the future may bring forth for these two leading 
cities on Puget Sound, Seattle should never forget that in the hour of 
her direst need, Tacoma stood nobly by her, fed her people, and gave 
as bountifully of her money as of her food. 

The greatest single factor in the upbuilding of Seattle was not the 
Klondike rush; it w^as the coming of the Great Northern Railway, 
for without the railway service which that company provided Seattle 
would not have been able to avail itself to the utmost of the pos- 
sibilities the gold discovery presented. It was a question for a 
time whether Fairhaven, on Bellingham Bay, or Seattle would be 
the terminus of the Great Northern. Unknown to the people of 
either city James J. Hill thoroughly investigated the claims of 
both. At that time there seemed to be little to choose between 
them from the transportation standpoint as both had excellent har- 
bors and neither presented any difficulties in the way of construc- 
tion. Satisfied in these respects Mr. Hill studied the people of the 
two communities. He became acquainted with the fight Seattle had 
made for its very existence, learned of the sacrifices of the people 
for the common good and appreciated the fine civic spirit they had 
always displayed. 

"A people that showed such spirit and energy and love for 
their town are a good people to live among and do business with, 
and it would be a pity to turn them down," said Mr. Hill to his 
officers, and he decided that Seattle should be the terminus of the line. 

Thus did the Seattle Spirit again demonstrate its value to 
the city. 

Following the definite connection of Seattle with the outside 
world by the advent of the Great Northern came one of the long 
periods of financial depression that try men's souls. In I 893 Seattle 
was like a man approaching a hill with a load on his shoulders 
that seemed easy to carry. As the grade increased the load became 
heavier. By 1897 there seemed to be no turning in the path and 
the top of the hill was lost in a cloud of disturbing doubt. The city 
was almost ready to lay down the load when there burst upon the 
horizon a glittering rainbow. It reached from a creek in the Yukon 
Territory to the seven hills upon which Seattle sits and at each end 
there was a pot of gold. 

On the morning of July 17, 1897, the steamer Portland arrived 
from the North with the first news of the Klondike strike. Huge 
pokes with bulging sides bore mute testimony to the truth of the 
stories the miners told. In its unexpectedness the news was like 
a blow^, but by this time Seattle had become so used to blows of 
another sort that nothing could surprise it beyond the point of 
instant action. Minds that had become alert in buffeting the rude 



12 The City That Made Itself 

jolts of unkind fate sprung automatically into service when good 
fortune knocked. Over night Seattle was advertised to the wide 
world. The burden that was heavy the day before was as a feather 
now and the hill lost all its terror. Alaska did not make Seattle: 
Seattle grew prosperous on Alaskan gold because she was equal 
to the emergency presented so unexpectedly. 

After long years of persistent struggle, Seattle prevailed upon 
the United States government to carry out a destiny proscribed by 
nature — the union of the waters of Lake Washington with those 
of Puget Sound. Every step in the protracted agitation was marked 
with self-sacrifice and public spirit on the part of Seattle citizens. 
When the Government announced that it was willing to place an 
army post near the city, Seattle citizens raised forty thousand dol- 
lars by public subscription at a time when financial conditions 
made the deed more noteworthy than raising ten times the amount 
would have been in more recent years, purchased six hundred and 
forty acres and presented it to the Nation. The Navy Yard was 
secured for the country tributary to Seattle only after this city put 
up an earnest fight for it. In connection with these great public 
works the names of Watson C. Squire, Governor and Senator, and 
John B. Allen, Senator from the State, must figure prominently 
among those who did yeoman service for Seattle. A large share of 
the credit for the selection of the Navy Yard is due Lieutenant 
A. B. Wyckoff, its first commandant. He served on the commis- 
sion that selected it and was always a staunch friend of Seattle, 
as well as a thorough sailor and a man of sound scientific know^ledge. 

The Seattle Spirit, which was and is simply a willingness and abil- 
ity of the city to take care of itself, against asserted itself in 1 901 when 
Moran Brothers entered the national shipbuilding field by putting in a 
bid for the construction of a first-class battleship for the American 
navy. Robert Moran and Will H. Parry, then of Moran Brothers Com- 
pany, were in Washington when the bids v/ere opened. The Moran 
bid was the lowest but Secretary of the Navy Herbert held that all of 
them were too high. After many conferences he told Moran and 
Parry that they could have the contract if they would reduce their 
bid one hundred thousand dollars. This the company was unable 
to do as the lowest possible figure had been quoted and to reduce 
it the amount stipulated would not leave sufficient margin to jus- 
tify the acceptance of the contract. But Moran and Parry knew 
something of the Seattle Spirit and they announced that they would 
like to have time to talk it over with their neighbors. They left for 
Seattle, carrying w^ith them the written promise of the Secretary of 
the Navy to give the contract to Moran Brothers if they w^ould 
accept it for one hundred thousand dollars less than the figure of 



The Nebraska Subsidy 13 

their bid; failing that, the bids were to be thrown out and new 
ones called for. It was apparent that if new bids vs^ere asked 
Cramps, of Philadelphia, and the Union Iron Works, of San Fran- 
cisco, by greatly reducing their figures, would stamp out the new^ 
competitor that had arisen so unexpectedly to confront them. 

Moran and Parry arrived in Seattle on a Sunday night. They 
went directly to the office of The Times, then in the Boston Block, 
for they knew^ Colonel Blethen, although his paper was an evening 
publication, always worked at his office on Sunday nights. They 
laid the entire matter before the editor and asked him what they 
would do. 

"Do?" exclaimed Colonel Blethen. "Put the Times down 
for one thousand dollars of the hundred thousand and we will 
collect the rest of it so fast that it will make you dizzy. Seattle 
must get the contract and the only way she can do it is by making 
up the difference between your bid and the figure at which the 
Government ^N\\\ let the contract. And before you go home," 
added the Colonel as the interview^ terminated, "go over to the 
P.-I. office and tell them w^hat we are going to do. That will give 
them the first chance at the story, but this is too important a matter 
to worry about a scoop." 

Next morning the Post-Intelligencer announced that Seattle 
had been pledged to raise one hundred thousand dollars and Mon- 
day afternoon The Times appeared v/ith its entire first page devoted 
to the same subject. Will H. Parry was made chairman of the 
citizens' committee and in a whirlwind campaign one hundred and 
thirty-five thousand dollars was subscribed. This was cut to one 
hundred thousand by the committee adjusting the list to place the 
burden on those most able to carry it. 

Again in 1 909 Seattle showed itself to be capable of doing 
big things in a big way. From June 1 to October 16 of that year 
was held on the State University campus the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific 
Exposition. It was an ambitious undertaking for Seattle, but the 
enterprise that built a city did not balk at exploiting it. In an 
immediate material w^ay the exposition did great service to the Uni- 
versity district by giving it better access to the center of the city. 

The exposition did a great work in exploiting Alaska and 
in 1914 Seattle followed its efforts in that direction by sending 
to Washington, D. C, a full Alaskan exhibit to assist the passage 
of the bill to provide a government railroad in the northern country. 
That the bill passed is due largely to the enterprise of the Seattle 
Chamber of Commerce, which since its inception has been one of 
the big fighting forces in the city of fighters. 



14 The City That Made Itself 

I have sketched here merely some of the high lights in the 
brilliant story of how Seattle made itself. These epochs are only 
the milestones that marked the progress of the onvs^ard journey. 
Throughout it all w^as developing a commercial greatness that owed 
nothing to any outside agencies. Take a list of the Seattle business 
houses of today and you will find that they grew up with the 
tow^n and were not developed by any influx of outside capital. 
Frederick & Nelson commenced as a small store on Pike Street; 
the Bon Marche opened with a stock worth only a few^ hundred 
dollars; MacDougall & Southw^ick's was once the typical country 
drygoods store; Augustine & Kyer's was its village companion, the 
corner grocery; Charles H. Frye, as nearly being a "Meat King" 
as the Northv^^est know^s, came with his pockets empty and built 
up his enormous business; the Standard Furniture Company was 
a tiny affair in the early days; Lowman & Hanford united a small 
book store and a small printing plant and have the Northvs^est's 
greatest establishment of the kind today; Cheasty's Haberdashery 
is the monument to a man who as a boy sold milk at Seattle door- 
steps; Singerman & Sons began humbly in a tiny shop. 

Outside the retail field the same story is true. Stewart & 
Holmes once had their business interests enclosed within the v^^alls 
of one small drug store, and other wholesale houses grew from such 
humble beginnings. Among the foremost industries are some v/hich 
began in a small way when Seattle was a village and which proved 
equal to the prosperity of the advancing Seattle by always keeping 
their relative position in the importance of the city. The great 
plant of the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Company grew from 
the machine shop of the Morans; the Washington Iron Works occu- 
pied one small building when J. M. Frink founded it; Chas H. 
Lilly & Co. built up its great business from a humble beginning 
— and the same is true of many others. There are hundreds of 
industries in the city that were financed vfiih outside capital, and 
in the city are branches of many great firms vs^hose head offices are 
elsew^here, but they came here v^^hen Seattle had grow^n great enough 
to make it good business on their part to make the move. They 
helped to build Seattle only to the extent that they would have 
helped to build Tacoma had the latter city offered better inducements. 

Seattle's matchless harbor may be said to have produced its 
own business; its location made it impossible for any other city 
on the Sound in the days before the railway to wrest from it its 
supremacy in the local trade, and it w^as from this trade that Seattle 
derived its first nourishment. When one looks back w^ith the v^is- 
dom lent him by safe contemplation of an accomplished fact, it is 



John Leary's Enterprise 15 

hard to realize why the obvious advantage of Seattle's location over 
other localities was not at once apparent to the men who chose 
Tacoma as the terminus for the Northern Pacific, and to those 
others who pinned their faith to the ultimate importance of other 
Puget Sound points. TTie only farms of the district in those days 
were along the banks of the rivers and on a few of the islands. On the 
Duwamish, the Snohomish, the Skagit, the La Conner flats, then and 
now the richest farming lands in all America, and on Whidby Island 
were farmers whose trade was a great asset to the settlement that re- 
ceived it. To reach these localities from any point on the Sound 
other than Seattle, Seattle had to be passed. Commerce will not 
deliberately flow past an open door and Seattle held her portals 
wide. The mosquito fleet in those early days spread over all the 
Sound and laid their cargoes on Seattle's waterfront. In the 80s 
Tacoma made a bold attempt to wrest the prize from Seattle but she 
answered by a broadside in the shape of the Bailey Gatzert, a 
$125,000 steamer which John Leary built with his own money to 
retain Seattle's supremacy as mistress of the immediate seas. 

There again have you got the civic fundamentals blended, 
with the harbor as the location and John Leary as the man of the 
right sort. Other men came after him and added to the fleets, ship- 
building becoming, as a result, an industry of the growing city. To- 
day flags of all the nations that send men down to the sea to take 
and fetch the products of the world fly from masts in Seattle's 
harbor. 

Seattle's progress was the scythe that mowed the crop of 
timber from her hills and opened her eyes to the untold wealth of 
the forest products. To nature, not to man, is due the basic reason 
for her tremendous importance as a lumber center, but in this field, 
too, do we find the man equal to the possibilities that confronted 
him. The whole country was a dense forest to which the hardy 
woodsmen from New England, Michigan and Minnesota flocked 
with their axes. They had the enterprise which coined the forests 
into money. Cut off through lack of railroads from the domestic 
market in the Eastern States they sought outlet for their product 
in foreign lands, and from Puget Sound sailed "wind-jammers" to 
all parts of the world where the straight spars and magnificent 
lumber that Seattle and the surrounding country had in abundance 
found a ready market. The industry has developed some of the 
most useful citizens Seattle has today, and no story of the city's 
growth would be complete without an acknowledgment of the 
part they played in it. 

When nature put the forests on the hills she also placed be- 
neath the waters an inexhaustible wealth of fish. From its earliest 



16 The City That Made Itself 

days Seattle has sent out ships to garner this crop, until today the 
industry is numbered among the leading ones. To this industry is 
entitled the credit for the inception of the movement that resulted 
in the purchase of Alaska by the United States. Fishermen in the 
middle of the last century were already going to the northern coast 
and taking fish from the waters of "Russian America," but the 
restrictions placed upon them by the Russian authorities proved so 
irksome as to be a menace to the industry. The people of other 
Puget Sound ports backed up Seattle's efforts to have conditions im- 
proved and in January, 1866, the Territorial Legislature memor- 
ialized Washington for relief. The memorial to Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, set forth the following: 

"That abundance of codfish, halibut and salmon of excellent 
quality have been found along the shores of the Russian possession. 
Your memorialists respectfully request Your Excellency to obtain 
such rights and privileges of the Government of Russia as will 
enable our fishing vessels to visit the ports and harbors of its pos- 
sessions, to the end that fuel, water and provisions may be easily 
obtained; that our sick and disabled fishermen may obtain sanitary 
assistance, together with the privilege of curing fish and repairing 
vessels in need of repairs. Your memorialists finally pray Your 
Excellency to employ such ships as may be spared from the Pacific 
naval fleet in exploring and surveying the fishing banks known 
to navigators to exist along the Pacific Coast from the Cortez Bank 
to Behring Straits." 

Accompanying the memorial, but not part of it, went a sug- 
gestion that the easiest way to solve the problem would be the pur- 
chase of Alaska outright. The prompt action of Secretary Seward 
and the purchase of the territory in 1867 are part of other history. 
Seattle owes much to Alaska, and cheerfully acknowledges the 
obligation, but perhaps she could look upon the stream of gold 
that came from the North as payment in part for the early efforts 
she put forth to send the Stars and Stripes north to supplant the 
Russian standard on this continent. 

Perhaps in no more striking way can the value to a city of 
men of the right sort be demonstrated than by reference to the 
importance that Seattle has held in the theatrical world. More 
theatres have been operated from Seattle than from any other city 
in the world. This fact becomes the more interesting when it is 
considered that what is strategically important for a commercial 
center is not a factor in the theatrical business, for all the theatres 
in America could be conducted from any inland town with postal 
and telegraphic facilities. It simply happened that three men had 
their homes in Seattle. John Cort, John W. Considine and Alex- 







The Growth of Seattle's Shipping: la Reflected in These Glimpses of the Development 

of Her Waterfront. 



The Seattle of Today 17 

ander Pantages. Each of them built up a great circuit which he 
conducted from this city and which has been of considerable com- 
mercial value to the city. John Cort and John W. Considine were 
among the pioneers who came here with nothing but a determination 
to do great things, and great things have they done in their line. Cort's 
efforts lay in the so-called "legitimate" field and Considine's in 
vaudeville. Cort has grow^n so great that he has almost ceased to 
be a citizen of Seattle, his national interests keeping him close to 
his New York office. Considine in 1914 sold for $6,000,000 a 
chain of theatres he built up in one decade. He gave to Seattle, 
in the Orpheum, the most beautiful vaudeville theatre in the world, 
and the most beautiful theatre used for any purpose in America. 
Pantages came to Seattle with Klondike gold and now theatres in 
many cities bear his name. 

And today we have a city that is a glorious monument to 
those who made it. Walking on its modern pavements, through 
lanes of steel-ribbed structures that echo the hum of a great com- 
mercial center, are men whose axes first bit into the pillars that 
nature had erected on the site to hold the cathedral stillness that 
stretched back to the time when the mountains were molded and 
the forests planted. A brief lifetime spans the period from verdant 
solitude to throbbing, virile, modern life. When Seattle opened 
her eyes she stretched, and brushed aside the hills that would impede 
her movements. As easily as she combated the works of nature 
did she offset the puny difficulties that man created. 

We who live here are persuaded that nowhere else on earth 
is a city favored such as ours. With every facility for great com- 
merce by land and sea we combine an aesthetic perfection that no 
other commercial center on the globe can match. Over hills and 
across valleys the city stretches, and from every doorstep there is 
a view of mountain and water. Roses, which pay scant attention 
to the calendar, climb over the palace of the millionaire and the 
cottage of the artisan. From behind the Cascade Mountains the 
sun comes up each day and at night falls beyond the jagged peaks 
of the Olympics, his last rays lighting up a golden path across Puget 
Sound to the shores that Seattle rests upon. To the south the vista 
holds Rainier's hoary peak rising majestically above all other heights 
in any of our states. To the north is the peaceful pathw^ay of v/ater 
that brings the fleets of all the world to lay commerce on Seattle 
docks. The climate is a peaceful one, given to no excesses and 
but scant indulgence in snovsr or frost. All the year around our 
lawns are green. 



18 The City That Made Itseli 

By and large we have everything there is to ask for. In the 
pages that you will now turn over you will find my simple narra- 
tive of how we got that portion of it that nature did not lay beside 
us. It is a story of good cheer with much two-fisted fighting scat- 
tered through. Perhaps, when you have turned the final page you 
will find that the answer to the question — Why Seattle? — lies in 
the title of my little book, 

THE CITY THAT MADE ITSELF. 



CHAPTER TWO. 



WHEN SEATTLE WORE SWADDLING CLOTHES 



SEATTLE started deliberately. For the first year her population 
consisted of one white man, John C. Holgate, who, in 1850, 
took up a donation claim on the southeast shore of Elliott Bay. 
His claim was not in the limits of the town of Seattle when the limits 
were first set two years subsequently, but when the growing popu- 
lation pushed the boundaries out in all directions from the center 
the Holgate claim was one of the first pieces of territory which the 
settlement absorbed. In the summer of 1851 other white men 
arrived in the district and took up claims on the banks of the Du- 
wamish River. In the party were Luther M. Collins, Henry Van 
Asselt, Jacob Maple and Samuel Maple. Only by virtue of the fact 
that in recent years the modern city has spread to include their 
claims can they be considered pioneers of Seattle. 

The date from which the history of Seattle may be said to 
have begun is September 15, 1851, when the first of those who 
subsequently became Holgate's neighbors arrived at Alki Point. It 
was the vanguard of what will always be known as the "Denny 
Party." David T. Denny and John N. Low left the remainder of 
the party at Portland and set out for Puget Sound after leaving 
Low's cattle on the range on the banks of the Chehalis River. A. A. 
Denny, the elder brother of David, and the leading spirit of the 
expedition which had crossed the plains from Illinois, had heard 
so much of the Sound country that he desired to become better 
acquainted with it before deciding to settle elsewhere, but an attack 
of ague made it necessary for him to remain at Portland while his 
brother and Low went on ahead. At Olympia the two were joined 
by Lee Terry and Captain Robert C. Fay and the four arrived at 
Alki Point on September 15. 

It did not take them long to make up their minds that they 
had reached the end of their journey. They explored Elliott Bay 
and the Duwamish River, sleeping the first night under the trees 
in what was later called Freeport, and is today West Seattle. Terry 
and Low had visions, and in their enthusiasm they determined that 
some day a city would build itself back of the point on which they 
first landed. They located a townsite and called it New York, but 
the transplanted name did not thrive. Their predictions that it 
would be a city "by and by" earned for it the name of Alki, which 
is the Indian for "by and by." Fay had no fixed plans and left 
the others to continue his travels. 

19 



20 The City That Made Itself 

Low left for Portland to bring the rest of the party and on 
September 28, 1851, Denny and Terry started the erection of the 
first log cabin which may properly be considered as Seattle's first 
building, as it was erected by those who v\rere so soon to commence 
the building of the city. Early in November Terry returned to 
Olympia, leaving Denny alone on the claim. On November I 3 the 
schooner Exact, Captain Folger, dropped anchor off the point and 
there disembarked from her the party that founded Seattle. David 
Denny vs^as glad to see them. Just previous to their arrival some 
skunks had invaded his quarters and partaken so generously of his 
rations that there v/as little left for him to eat. 

In the party w^ere twelve adults and twelve children, A. A. 
Denny and family, John N. Low and family, C. D. Boren and 
family, W. N. Bell and family, and Charles C. Terry, who with 
Lee Terry and David T. Denny brought the number of adults up to 
twelve. Pictures of the members of the party and their full 
names appear elsewhere in this volume. 

The first w^ork done v^as the completion of the cabin com- 
menced by Denny and Terry and as rapidly as possible a habitation 
for each of the families was erected. The winter quarters were no 
sooner completed than commerce found the little colony and there 
commenced the trading that has since made Seattle one of the well 
known seaports of the w^orld. 

In December, 1851, the brig Leonesa, Captain Daniel S. How- 
ard, dropped anchor off the little settlement seeking a cargo of 
piles. The settlers took the contract to load his vessel and while 
the rest of the men and boys devoted themselves to taking out piles 
and hauling them out by hand, Lee Terry went to Puyallup and 
secured a yoke of oxen, w^hich he drove to Alki Point along the 
beach. After the arrival of the cattle the contract was speedily 
completed. 

It was the personality of A. A. Denny that gave his name to 
the first party that arrived at Alki. That it does not go down in 
history as the "Low Party" or the "Boren Party" is due to the 
masterful mind of the elder Denny, to his qualifications as a leader, 
to his keen sense of justice, and to the thorough manner in which 
he performed the task before him. He was a man of commanding 
presence and had an aptitude for leadership, a broadness of vision 
and a wealth of energy and enthusiasm that made him the ideal 
pioneer. As much as the distinction can belong to any one man, 
A. A. Denny is entitled to go down in history as the "Father of 
Seattle," and if a city has a "mother" that title could be conferred 
with reverence and love on the gracious woman w^ho was at his 
side in the long journey from the other side of the Mississippi, who 



The Name Seattle Adopted 21 

shared all his hardships and happiness, and lived with him to see 
a great city rise on the land which he had selected as the fitting 
place for it. 

During their first winter on the Sound Denny, Boren and Bell 
explored the surrounding country and early in 1852 seriously took 
up the task of selecting claims for themselves, for their cabins had 
been erected on the land of Lee Terry and Low. Denny realized 
that the life of the settlement would depend upon its ability to 
sell piles and timber, for there were several other thriving settle- 
ments on Puget Sound and a market had already been established. 
A harbor, therefore, was essential; in fact it was the important con- 
sideration for the land was pretty much alike in all directions. With 
a flat-iron attached to a clothesline the men made soundings and 
decided that Elliott Bay offered the greatest promise. On February 
15, 1852, they located and marked three claims together. D. T. 
Denny later located a claim to the north of them. 

On March 3 1 Dr. D. S. Maynard arrived with Chief Seattle, the 
Indian after whom the settlement was subsequently named, and was 
prevailed upon to take a claim. The boundary of the Boren 
claim was moved a little north to accommodate him. When in 
October of that year, H. L. Yesler arrived and desired a claim upon 
which to build a sawmill a second realignment was gladly made, 
Boren and Maynard each giving him a strip of land where their loca- 
tions joined. Denny, Boren and Maynard filed the first plat of the 
town of Seattle on May 23, 1 853 — the date that is the official birthday 
of the present city. 

There seems to be no record of the exact time that the name Se- 
attle was decided upon for the name of the new tow^n. TTie first few 
settlers realized the importance of selecting a name that would reflect 
credit on the metropolis they hoped some day to build and various 
suggestions were made. It was found that some of the land upon 
which the city now stands already was knov^n by name, the Indian 
words, Mukinkum and Tsehalalitch, having been applied to some of 
it. The Thurston County officials, being under the necessity of giv- 
ing the precinct some name by which it could have a place in the 
official records, called it Dewamps. 

There was at the head of a colony of Indians v^ho lived in the 
neighborhood of the nevv^ settlement a dignified old chief by name 
Seattle. He was popular among all the w^hites and as his name vv^as 
short and euphonious the movement to name the tow^n after him 
gained some headway. The sentiment was crystallized May 23, 
1853, when the plats were filed under the name "Tow^n of Seattle." 
The chief was not moved to emotional depths that made any ripple 
on his usual dignified bearing vs'hen he became acquainted w^ith the 



22 The City That Made Itself 

fact that the honor had been conferred upon him, but throughout the 
remainder of his life he continued to manifest his friendship for the 
whites upon every occasion and no one ever regretted that his name 
was adopted as that of the great city that subsequently replaced the 
forests in which he and his braves pursued game. 

Prior to the filing of the plat of the tow^n the settlement on Elliott 
Bay had become known by the name of Seattle. The first record of 
the name being recognized officially was on January 6, 1853, when 
the Legislature of Oregon Territory passed a law enacting: "That 
the county seat of King County be and same is hereby located at Se- 
attle on the land claim of David S. Maynard." 

The story of Seattle's development is v^^ritten in epochs. The 
first w^as the erection of the steam sav/mill by Yesler. It gave the 
settlement a start and an excuse for continued existence. The stack 
that belched the Yesler smoke was the pioneer of a thousand others; 
the city grew up around it, and if 1 intended to continue the distribu- 
tion of titles I would have to accord Henry L. Yesler that of father 
of the city's industries. 

The action of Boren and Maynard in moving their lines to 
accommodate Yesler is a significant episode in the life of Seattle as 
it marked the first concerted attempt of the town to attract indus- 
tries to itself. True, the motive was entirely selfish, for the presence 
of the sawmill could have but one effect on the adjacent land, which 
prior to the establishment of the mill could not rightfully claim to 
be of any more value than any other shore lands for miles in either 
direction. But all civic loyalty may be said to spring, in part at least, 
from enlightened selfishness; a campaign for more railroads or more 
factories is carried on with money cheerfully subscribed by people 
w^hose sole idea is to benefit the city in which they live and thereby 
enhance the value of all the property within that city. The enterprise 
of Boren and Maynard was on a par, therefore, with the later efforts 
greater bodies of her citizens have put forth to bring new industries 
to Seattle. 

In the case of Yesler's mill the advantage to the small settle- 
ment became apparent as soon as w^ork of construction w^as com- 
menced. Work was given every adult in the settlement and when 
the operation of the mill began logging became practically the only 
source of revenue of the settlers. By sheer strength of their bodies 
the men laid low the stately trees that made the site of the future 
city a forest, rolled them to tidewater and conveyed them with small 
boats to the mill. There was no other way to do the work and 
full advantage had to be taken of the accommodations which the 
gods had provided, as the steep hills back of the waterfront presented 



Yesler's Mill and Its Times 23 

grades that eased somewhat the work of handling logs without the 
equipment that makes them the playthings of the machinery of 
today. 

An interesting sketch of the part Yesler's mill played in the 
early life of the settlement was given by Mr. Yesler himself in an 
interview which he gave to the Post-Intelligencer a few years before 
his death. I quote it in full: 

"After I got my mill started in 1853, the first lot of logs was 
furnished by Dr. Maynard. He came to me and said he wanted to 
clear up a piece on the spit, where he wanted to lay out and sell 
some town lots. It was somewhere about where the New England 
Hotel now stands (First Avenue South). The location of the old 
mill is now an indeterminate spot. The spot where the old cook 
house adoining the mill stood is at the intersection of Mill and 
Commercial Streets (Yesler Way and First Avenue South). Hillory 
Butler and Bill Gilliam had the contract from Maynard, and they 
brought the logs to the mill by hand — rolled and carried them in 
with handspikes. I warrant you it was harder work than Hillory 
or Bill has done for many a day since. Afterwards, Judge Phillips, 
who went into partnership with Dexter Horton in the store, cut out 
logs for me somewhere up the Bay. 

"During the first five years after my mill was started, cattle 
teams for logging were but few on the Sound and there were no 
steamboats for towing rafts until 1858. Captain John S. Hill's 
Ranger No. 2, which he brought up from San Francisco, was the 
first of the kind, and George A. Meigs' little tug Resolute, which 
blew up with Captain John Guindon and his crew in 1861, came 
on about the same time. A great deal of the earliest logging on 
the Sound was done exclusively by hand, the logs being thrown 
into the water by handspikes and towed to the mill on the tide 
by skiffs. 

"In 1853 Hillory Butler took a contract to get me out logs at 
Smith's Cove. George F. Frye was his teamster. In the fall of 

1854 and spring and summer of 1855, Edward Hanford and John 
C. Holgate logged for me on their claims, south of the townsite 
toward the head of the Bay. T. D. Hinckley was their teamster, 
also Jack Harvey. The Indian War breaking out in the fall of 

1855 put a stop to their logging operations. The Indians killed or 
drove off all of the ox teams or cattle hereabouts and burned the 
dwellings of Hanford, Holgate and Bell on the borders of the town, 
besides destroying much other property throughout the country. 

"The logging outfits in those days were of the most primitive 
and meager description. Rafts were fastened together with ropes 




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7^8:"KR5 . dj<. I/0^^^^ 




D.T.DENKY" 



T-TES. BETX 
I. Eli TERHV 
ARE NOT IM 

EXISTENCE 




L0U15AB.DEhfKr 






THE FOU/MDERS OF SEATTLE 



© 



WHO LANDED AT ALKI POINT MOV. 13,185!. 



d 





'i?OLlJ\ND H.DENNY 



FLORA. DENNY^ 




LOUISA DENN"Y'FRrE 




OUVE BELL STERN3 



VlRC^IKL^ ^ELL MALL 




^ 



-•? 



W |tt 



LAURA BELL COFFHAN" 




ALO/^TZO LO"VNr 



L.<^ERTRUDLBORE,>f 



MINERVA LOW- 

j PHOTOGRAPh' or 
— ZEVJNA BTTJ r. 

HOT IN EXLJT£'J-!Ca 







JoyiHny.how 



KAPY LOW" iSlKCLAIR 



CJ-tILDKJE,7sr OP-^ 

THE FOU/MDERS OF SEATTLE ^ I 

WHO LANDED WITH THEIR PARENTS AT ALM POINT NOV 13 1851 '^* i 

__ ' 'senj.w.pettit: 



Indian Attack on Seattle 25 

that had occurred in the settlement, for Mercer brought a team of 
horses and a wagon. Mercer speedily became Seattle's entire transfer 
system and by adding dairying to his teaming grew to be an im- 
portant factor in the life of the town. He took up a donation claim, 
the eastern end of which was the meander line of Lake Union, and 
what is now known as Mercer Street was the dividing line between 
his claim and that of D. T. Denny. 

In 1855 unfriendly Indians threw the settlers of the village 
and the surrounding district into a panic by their depredations. 
They were known to have committed several murders and were 
suspected of others, but the crow^ning act of their campaign against 
the whites was their attack on Seattle on January 21, 1856. Milton 
Holgate was killed at the door of one of the block houses almost 
as soon as hostilities commenced. The presence of the sloop of 
war Decatur in the harbor — the first ship of the United States navy 
to visit Seattle waters — was a factor in the defeat of the Indians. 
These troubles with the Klickitats had a serious effect on the growth 
of the town and it was some years before Seattle recovered from 
the stagnation caused by the violent disruption of its infantile 
routine. 

But it was from such a beginning that the great city about 
which I am to tell you in succeeding chapters was built on the foun- 
dations laid by the braw^n and bravery of its earliest settlers. It is 
a story of the successive lights and shadows that communities have 
seen, but even the shadows are relieved by the humor that was pos- 
sessed in abundance by these fighters against odds. Seattle worked 
hard for what she has accomplished but she has preserved through 
it all the ability to laugh while at work and to keep her temper even 
during the trying times. 

Shortly after the Civil War broke out Dexter Horton des- 
patched an order for merchandise to the wholesale house in San 
Francisco with which he dealt. He forwarded the money with the 
order, but when his invoice arrived he found that there had been 
an extraordinary rise in the price of cotton as compared with his 
previous shipment. He wrote to the wholesale house and asked for 
an explanation. After the long delay that marked an exchange of 
letters with distant points in those days he was informed that the 
Government had imposed a war tax on cotton. 

"I am as loyal as any of those who are doing the fighting," 
wrote Horton when he made his remittance, "and I do not want to 
shirk any taxes, but I do not think the Government is justified in 
placing the whole cost of the war on one bolt of cotton." 

When, a decade before that. Dr. Henry A. Smith started out to 
blaze a trail from the cove which still bears his name to the village of 



26 The City That Made Itself 

Seattle, became lost without knowing it and described a huge circle 
which brought him to his ow^n back fence where he sat for some time 
and reflected on the similarity between this strange clearing and his 
own, Seattle laughed at him and the joke went dow^n in the annals, 
to be joined later by Horton's patriotic defense of the bolt of cotton. 

The success that finally marked Seattle's long and spectacular 
fight for rail connection with the outside, the continued expansion 
of the lumber industry, the development of the coal mines and the 
coming of the treasure ship Portland with the news that a Klondike 
existed — all of which are dealt with in detail in succeeding pages — 
combined to make Seattle's place in the new w^orld one to be envied 
by the scores of other communities that were striving to gain the 
proud position she was assuming by the right of her location and 
the masterly fighting abilities of her citizens. 

In those earliest days, and before most of the things about 
which I am to write assumed a sufficiently concrete form to give 
their history a beginning, there were men who did such yeoman 
service that their names should go down in any historical review of 
the city, and in case they do not come into my stories prominently 
enough to do them the honor that belongs to them I put them 
down here. 

Dexter Horton was one of the most jealous fighters for the city 
that Seattle ever had. Coming to Seattle in 1853 he was in business 
for himself in less than a year, and from then until his death on 
July 28, I 904, his name stood for all that was sound and enterpris- 
ing in the commercial life of the city. As a fighter he asked no 
quarter; he pinned his faith to the future of Seattle and fought with 
both fists to help his dreams come true. He was a good citizen in 
that he improved his holdings and did not wait until the incoming 
population settled beside him and made him wealthy. A man of 
strong convictions, he was quick to acknowledge the error of his 
views if proven wrong by argument or time. A striking exhibition 
of this generosity of spirit was given three weeks before his death. 

It so happened that Dexter Horton had never agreed with any- 
thing that Reginald H. Thomson had inaugurated while City Engi- 
neer. Horton fought every proposal Thomson made and when he 
fought he fought wth vigor. One morning early in July, 1 904, he 
went to Thomson's office. 

"Thomson," he said, "how^ long have we known one another?" 

"Twenty-five years, Mr. Horton," said the City Engineer. 

"And in all that time did I ever agree with you in anything?" 

"Not to my knowledge, Mr. Horton." 



Henry Yesler and Joh n Collins 27 

The banker hitched his chair a little closer. From a side pocket 
he extracted a small red-covered note-book. Tapping the desk with 
It he said: This little book I purchased to take with me around 
the world. In it 1 was to write down everything I saw in all other 
cities that would show up some of Thomson's follies. I investi- 
gated every point upon which I had fought you— but the pages are 
still bare. I don t know how long I have to live, but I want you 
to know that hereafter I am for everything you propose, no matter 
how crazy it looks to me. You can count on me, and you can 
count on my heirs, for when I get home tonight I am going to tell 
them of this conversation and pledge them to your support." 

A few years later, when Third Avenue was widened by cutting 
oft the front of some buildings and moving others back, the Dexter 
Horton estate accepted without a contest Thomson's estimate of 
the amount of damages to which it was entitled. 

Dexter Horton 's name will go down into history as the pio- 
neer banker of the state and as such will never be lost sight of- but 
he was more than a banker and has a high place among the builders 
or .Seattle. 

Henry L. Yesler was essentially a builder. In bringing the 
first industry to Seattle he started the settlement on its way to 
affluence. He was not content with merely running a sawmill but 
spread his energies over many enterprises. The Yesler-Leary Build- 
ing, the most imposing structure in the city at the time of its erec- 
tion, was an evidence of his confidence in the future of the city 
J,°^y^f''^ ^^^'^^4 pavilion was the center of the social activities of 
the little town. Throughout the story of the building of the city his 
name looms large as the following pages will attest. 

John Collins was the sort of man a growing city needed. The 
characteristic that amounted to a distinct civic asset was his un- 
bounded optimism. He believed in the future of Seattle, he preached 
it upon every possible occasion and was always prepared to back 
his judgment with his money. By some of his more timid con- 
temporaries he was looked upon as a plunger, and his readiness to 
take a chance at anything would indeed have marked him as a 
gambler if it had not been founded on his all-abiding confidence 
that Seattle would justify the wisdom of all he spent within and 
upon It. He erected the Collins Block and Occidental Hotel (now 
Seattle Hotel) immediately after the fire of 1889, thus doing his 
share towards rehabilitating the city. It was his optimism that 
retained for the city many people who were disposed to give up the 
hght m he early days when the prospects looked brighter elsewhere 
Any task assigned to him when there was a call for the exercise of 



28 The City That Made Itself 

civic spirit was cheerfully assumed and his example spurred on 
many who, without his cheering activity, might have lagged by the 
wayside. 

James M. Colman is a big figure in Seattle's fight for railroad 
connection. It was said of him that when there was trouble on the 
narrow-gauge railroad which, by his mechanical skill, executive ability 
and boundless energy connected Seattle with the coal mines, he 
would put a monkey wrench in his pocket, walk out the tracks and 
bring in the train. He too, improved his holdings when buildings 
were needed, putting up the first two stories of the present mag- 
nificent Colman Building shortly after the fire. Mr. Colman was 
a man of unimpeachable personal integrity, a keen business man and 
a pioneer of the far-seeing, useful kind. 

John Leary was one of the great constructive generals of the 
sort who carry the outposts of empire to the far-flung borders of 
civilization. In his time he did more than any other one man to 
attract attention to Seattle, and in his long career he never passed 
up a single public enterprise that made an appeal to him for help. 
He was essentially a promoter, a broad-minded, far-seeing man, w^ho 
was a leader upon whose judgment other men relied implicitly. His 
public activities were limited only by the opportunities presented to 
indulge in them, and Seattle's history w^as sufficiently turbulent to 
provide a field for the indulgence of much civic self-sacrifice. When 
Tacoma and Olympia were making an active bid to attract from 
Seattle the rich commerce the mosquito fleet was bringing to it from 
the farms on the neighboring rivers, John Leary jumped to the de- 
fense of his city by building from his own resources a handsome 
steamer, at that time by long odds the most ambitious craft of its 
kind on Puget Sound. He called it the Bailey Gatzert out of compli- 
ment to his friend w^ho also played his part in the building of Se- 
attle. The Bailey Gatzert cost Leary one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars but it drove the competing craft from the seas and 
maintained the prestige of Seattle as the commercial center of Puget 
Sound. In connection with the gas, v^ater, and street railw^ay devel- 
opment in Seattle Mr. Leary was a moving spirit. 

John J. McGilvra, v^ho came to Seattle as an appointee of 
his friend, Abraham Lincoln, remained here to become one of its 
most highly respected citizens. In connection with the story of the 
acquisition of Cedar River as a source of w^ater supply for Seattle, 
I relate in detail the signal service Mr. McGilvra rendered Seattle. 
He, too, w^as alw^ays a pow^erful champion of the building of the 
Lake Washington Canal. He did some pioneering of his ow^n after 
his arrival here, for he was attracted by the beauties of Lake Wash- 
ington, and built his home on its shore at what is novs^ Madison 



Some of the Pioneers 29 

Park. With his own money he constructed a road — now Madison 
Street — from the city to the lake and was instrumental in opening 
the intervening land to settlement. Mr. McGilvra w^as a man of w^ide 
reading, lofty character and great legal attainments. 

Arthur A. Denny comes so often into the history of Seattle 
that I will give him but brief mention here. A solid, substantial, 
sensible, kindly man, he w^as one of the great bulwarks of civic 
progress, and the prominence that his mere early arrival in Seattle 
would give his name in history sinks into insignificance when his 
great worth to the community he founded is taken into consideration. 

George Kinnear, who selected Seattle as a place of residence 
only after investigating and carefully w^eighing tlie attractions other 
Puget Sound points had to offer, smoothed the way of the Great 
Northern Railway into Seattle by selling to the company for a 
merely nominal price all its present holdings at Smith's Cove. Part 
of the right-of-way he contributed outright and he subscribed to a 
fund to purchase other land for gift to the road from a neighbor 
who show^ed less public spirit. 

Angus Mackintosh was another factor in all the battles of Se- 
attle's long war for the right to exist. His building, the Kenneth 
Block on First Avenue, was one of the first structures in Seattle to 
go the height. It w^as named for his son who is now^ Judge Kenneth 
Mackintosh, one of the youngest but irrespective of age one of the 
ablest Superior Court Judges of King County. 

If this were a volume of biography I could add to the list of 
those who are gone some names of men who fought well for Seattle, 
but it does not come within the scope of my present endeavor. 
Rather have 1 chosen but a few of the generals, leaving to the others 
the place they have in the stories as I tell them. Among the living I 
do not venture at all. The historian who comes after me in the day 
that places today among the early ones of the city can estimate the 
work of the present props of Seattle's greatness. It is merely my aim 
to more firmly fix the monuments to the great men of the past so 
that wth the narrow^ing vision that accumulating decades lend to his- 
torical perspective their names will still stand out. 



CHAPTER THREE. 



HOW SEATTLE OUTGREW HER BOUNDARIES 



IN other parts of the Nation Seattle is referred to as one of the 
newer cities, one that has sprung up with remarkable rapidity to 
take its place beside cities that seem to be many times as old. 
Yet Seattle is no municipal infant. As a legal entity she is well 
along in middle life and dates her incorporated beginning during the 
Civil War time, simultaneously with many of the large cities of the 
Middle West whom we have already come to regard as having 
reached the age of discretion. 

Late in the year 1864 the Territorial Legislature passed an act 
incorporating the Town of Seattle and presented it with a charter. 
The first municipal government officials were inaugurated on Janu- 
ary 14, 1865. Charles C. Terry, Henry L. Yesler, Hiram Burnett, 
David T. Denny and Charles Plummer were the Town Trustees. 
Mr. Terry was elected president of the board. Charles Egan was 
clerk and Thomas S. Russell was the town marshal. In the first elec- 
tion one hundred and forty-nine votes were cast and the estimated 
population w^as about three hundred. The new town's administra- 
tion immediately settled down to work and passed a number of ordi- 
nances on behalf of the common welfare. Ordinance Number Four 
marked the beginning of the present vast system of public works and 
improvements. It provided for the building and regulation of side- 
walks on Commercial Street, from Mill to Jackson. Mill Street is 
now Yesler Way, while Commercial Street is the present First Ave- 
nue South. The town marshal was the only salaried official, receiv- 
ing three hundred dollars per year. Only fourteen ordinances were 
adopted by this government. These were published in The Gazette, 
Seattle's first newspaper. The first legislative act of Seattle's Town 
Trustees consisted of an ordinance levying a municipal tax, passed 
on February 7, 1865. TTie second ordinance was "Concerning 
Swine." This marked the beginning of police regulation, but also 
indicated the fact that Seattle's citizens were thrifty. The third ordi- 
nance provided for the "Prevention of Drunkenness and Disorderly 
Conduct." The fourth ordinance provided for the building of side- 
walks. The fifth ordinance called for the removal of Indians to 
points outside of the town limits and provided for the punishment of 
those who might harbor them. The sixth ordinance was a speed law 
to prevent "Reckless and Fast Driving Through the Streets." Later 
there were other ordinances relating to theatrical exhibitions, fees for 

30 



Seattle's First City Charter 



31 



the Committing Magistrate." prohibiting the use or carrying of 
deadly weapons, nuisances and the like. The first fire ordinance that 
iJeattle had was Ordinance Number Eleven for the regulation of 
stove pipes. The thirteenth provided for the regulation of dogs and 
number fourteen sought to prevent the sale of "spirituous liquors," 
porter, beer, cider and ale, to Indians. 



K^ H 1 T" *' *¥" included the area bounded on the north 

.nn/hKA.l f 'c°" '^%^^'* ^y Twenty-fourth Avenue, on the 
south by Atlantic Street and on the west by the waters of Elliott Bay. 

But the people of Seattle were not long satisfied with their form 
ot municipal government and voluntarily sought disincorporation. 

\^TrIi^T ^f '^^'' '^V^'' *^^ Legislature repealed, on January 
10, 105/, the act grantmg them a town charter and Seattle again be- 

iWitv^.7''%^''''"'* °^^'"^ ^°""*y' ^f*^^ ^^^'"S ^^^^ ^ ^unic 
ipahty a tew days more than two years. 

In the latter part of 1869 the citizens of this precinct asked the 
Legislative Assembly for another municipal government, this time a 
more pretentious one. The request was granted and under the act 
of the Assembly, approved December 2, 1869, Seattle was incorpor- 
ated as a city, though the whole of King County, including the new 
city, had a population not to exceed two thousand. The newly 
formed City of Seattle was technically bounded on the north by 
Galer Street, on the east by Lake Washington, on the south by Han- 

Ta ? r*' ^""^ *° *^^ ™^^^'^ °f E"^°" Bay on the west. It in- 
c uded about sixteen sections of land, partly fractional, on Elliott Bay, 
all of which was confined to one ward. The corporate power was 
vested in a Common Council of seven members and a Mayor, all to 

,Lf ^^^ A^"""^"^- Pn^f^ officers were Recorder, Treasurer, Mar- 
shal and Assessor and Collector. The charter of the city was to go 
into effect immediately upon its approval by the Governor, and until 
the first annual election to be held in July, 1870, the Legislative As- 
sembly appointed the following as the officials of the first administra- 

HaVl M h f T°1^t"'t".'^^^^[' ^- ^- ^'^-^-^ R--der, Ike M. 
HalL Marshal, John T. Jordan; Clerk, G. N. McConaha; Treasurer 

Stn^" T r^ r fv "J^'Vh'v, °^ *^^ ^°""^''' S- G. Calhoun, C. P. 
and A.-S PiSham' ^■^■^^''^''^' ^'"^^ ^rown, Frank Mathias 

The first election took place in 1870 and when it was over the 

B LraT sT "V" t\t^' i S- ^- ^'^^^' Mayor • Am': 
Brown, C. P- Stone Frank Mathias. J. T. Jordan. D. N. Hyde, O C 

te'i""r,\"^'r^°i:r"L"^^"= ^- ^- A"^--«- Recorder G H. 
Marsha? ' ^^ "^ ^"'"""' Treasurer; L. V. Wyckoff. 



32 The City That Made Itself 

Some readjustment of boundaries became necessary. There- 
fore in November, 1872, the Territorial Legislature modified the 
boundary lines to place the north limit at Howell Street and the 
south line at Atlantic Street. Then in 1 883 the north limit was ex- 
tended to what is now known as McGraw Street. Another amend- 
ment to the city charter adopted in 1 886 extended the area to in- 
clude a part of Lake Union and to the middle of Lake Washington. 
Seattle remained within these limits until the admission of the Terri- 
tory to statehood in 1 889. The actual area of the city, then includ- 
ing Seattle harbor, tidelands and Lake Union shore lands as platted, 
consisted of approximately twenty-seven square miles of land. 

During these changes the city had grown very rapidly and be- 
gan to spread out beyond the lines set for it. During the same period 
other smaller communities had arisen without its legal boundaries. 
The conflict of interests of these communities so close to the larger 
place, together with the desire of these suburban towns to enjoy the 
greater advantages of the city, such as a dependable water supply, 
lighting and street-car service, and other features that Seattle proper 
possessed, started a sentiment in favor of a Greater Seattle. 

The annexation movement, fought out in many bitter local 
battles among the residents of the territories seeking admission, be- 
gan with the taking in by Seattle of the town of South Seattle on 
October 20, 1905. From then on there were annexed in rapid suc- 
cession, in the order named. Southeast Seattle, Ravenna, South Park, 
Columbia City, Ballard, West Seattle, Rainier Beach and Dunlap, 
Lake Washington shore lands not before included, Laurelhurst and 
Yesler, giving the Citj' of Seattle in 1910a total land area of 37,481 
acres, or about 58 square miles. 

Added to this is a fresh-w^ater area, including a part of Lake 
Washington, Lake Union, Green Lake, Duwamish River, Govern- 
ment Canal from Salmon Bay to Lake Washington, amounting to 
7,240 acres, or 1 1 square miles of fresh water; and a salt-water area, 
including Salmon Bay Waterway, Elliott Bay, East Waterway, West 
Waterway and Smith's Cove, from Alki Point to West Point, Outer 
Harbor, Duwamish Point to Five Mile Point and a portion of Puget 
Sound, amounting to 15,745 acres, about 25 square miles of salt wa- 
ter; a total water area of 22,985 acres, or about 36 square miles, and 
a grand total area of 60,466 acres, or approximately 1 00 square miles 
of land and water. 

The following table will give at a glance the present area of the 
city and the story of its growth: 



::i>.-i:< 



iX 






t 
I- 

U. 

o 

m 

Ik 



SHS! 



>-JiJSdi^ 



-i ^BOQUlliOt^ 




Seattle's Land and Water Area 



33 



LAND AREA OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE. 

Square Date Annexation Ordi- 

Original city, including Seattle Acres. Miles. nance Was Passed. 

Harbor, tidelands and Lake 

Union shore lands as platted 17,461 27.28 

South Seattle 570 0.89 October 20, 1905 

Southeast Seattle 3.365 5.26 January 7, 1907 

Ravenna 480 0.75 January 15, 1907 

South Park 529 0.83 May 3, 1907 

Columbia 605 0.94 May 3, 1907 

Ballard 2,300 3.60 July 24, 1907 

West Seattle 6,710 10.49 July 24, 1907 

Rainier Beach and Dunlap.... 2,560 4.00 September 12, 1907 

Lake Washington Shore Lands 412 0.64 Filed March 2 1 . 1 908 

Georgetown 1,170 1.82 April 11, 1910 

Laurelhurst and Yesler 1,319 2.06 December 1, 1910 

Total 37,481 58.56 



WATER AREA. 

Fresh Water — Acres. Sq. Mi. Acres. Sq. Mi. 

Lake Washington 5,800 9.06 

Lake Union 688 1.08 

Green Lake 314 0.49 

Duwamish River 370 0.58 

Government Canal, from Salmon Bay 

to Lake Washington 68 0. II 

7.240 11.32 

Salt Water- 
Salmon Bay Waterway 269 0.42 

Elliott Bay, including East Waterway, 

West Waterway and Smith's Cove, 

from Alki Point to West Point 3,754 5.87 

Outer Harbor, Duwamish Point to Five 

Mile Point 4,134 6.46 

Puget Sound 7,588 11.84 

15,745 24.59 

Total water area 22,985 35.91 

Total land and water area 60,466 acres, 94.47 square miles. 



34 



The City That Made Itself 



Only twenty-nine different people have held the office of Mayor 
of Seattle. Up to the time the territory became a state in 1 889, and 
the charter of the city was amended, the Mayor's term was for one 
year. Since that time it has been for two years. The Mayors since 
incorporation in 1 869 and the years in which they were elected 
follow : 



H. A. Atkins 
H. A. Atkins 
J. T. Jordan.... 
C. P. Stone... 



(appointed) 1869 

(elected) 1870 

1871 

1872 



John Collins 1873 

H. L. Yesler 1874 

Bailey Gatzert 1875 

G. A. Weed.. 1876-1877 

Beriah Brown 1878 

Orange Jacobs 1879 

L. P. Smith 1880-1881 

H. G. Struve 1882-1883 

John Leary 1884 

Henry L. Yesler 1885 

W. H. Shoudy 1886 

T. T. Minor 1887 



Robert Moran 1888-1889 

Harry White (resigned) 1890 

Geo. W. Hall (elected by Council) 1891 

J. T. Ronald 1892 

Byron Phelps 1894 

Frank D. Black (resigned) 1896 

W. D. Wood (resigned) 1897 

T. J. Humes 1897-1898-1900-1902 

Richard A. Ballinger 1904 

Wm. Hickman Moore 1906 

John F. Miller 1908 

H. C. Gill 1910 

Geo. W. DiUing 1911 

Geo. F. Cotterill 1912 

H. C. Gill 1914 



CHAPTER FOUR. 



HOW SEATTLE WON HER RAILROAD FIGHT 



TERMINUS was the god of the ancient Romans who presided 
over boundaries and limits. Capitals were located on spots 
favored by him, and he alone of all the inferior gods would not 
yield his place to Jupiter himself. If the god Terminus had aught 
to do with the selection of the site for Seattle, the Northern Pacific 
Railroad was the Jupiter that fought in vain for nearly a score of 
years to make him yield his place. But the legendary stubborness 
of the god had not w^eakened with the centuries, and that Seattle is 
today a city of such commanding strength is due fundamentally to 
the importance of her location, but largely to the boundless courage 
and indomitable self-reliance of the little group of men whom she 
developed as her champions when the fight was on. 

To thoroughly understand the spirit that actuated the settle- 
ment in its long and bitter fight we must go back to the first great 
struggle when the few^ settlers in old Oregon met, thw^arted, fought 
and conquered the greatest corporation then known, with the possible 
exception of the East Indian Company — the Company of Gentle- 
men and Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay. TTiese settlers 
forced the retreat of the company to the forty-ninth parallel and 
carried the Stars and Stripes northward across the hills upon v^rhich 
Seattle now sits. Men of this stamp, worthy descendants of pioneer- 
ing sires, and imbued w^ith the same determination, took up Seattle's 
fight and carried it to successful conclusion. 

In the days of Ancient Rome the fires of patriotism burned 
warmest at the seat of government; the distant Gauls did not have 
for Imperial Caesar the intense regard the Romans felt. In our new^ 
world the condition v^as reversed; as American pioneers crossed 
the plains to the unknown West they were conscious that they 
were carrying the boundary of an empire with them, and as each 
day's journey vs^as concluded their love for their country was 
increased. Certainly it was a patriotic fervor of an intensity 
greater than that brewed in the East that brought victory in the 
fight against the Hudson's Bay Company; and the hills they crossed 
in getting here, the rude jolts of the ox-v^agons, and the dangers 
that lurked along the trails bred in the bones of Seattle's first 
settlers a courage that fitted them for the struggle that was before 
them to build up a city against the odds they faced. 

35 



36 The City That Made Itself 

Only the pioneers who took part in it know of the fight for 
existence that Seattle had to wage. "If I had it in my power a 
locomotive would never turn a wheel into Seattle," said one of 
the presidents of the Northern Pacific after the road was built. 
For sixteen years after Seattle had railroad connection with the 
outside w^orld it w^as impossible to purchase a ticket in the East 
for Seattle. The Northern Pacific did not recognize the existence 
of this city, and did everything in its pow^er to force Seattle citizens 
to abandon their homes here and move to Tacoma, w^here the 
railroad owned the land and hoped to build the one great city on 
Puget Sound. 

Three thousand miles from the source of capital, relentlessly 
pursued by the big transcontinental railroad that v^as backed by 
the Government of the United States, harassed when possible by 
neighboring cities that had the prestige of rail connections, Seattle 
fought her battle single-handed, through stress and storm, until 
she emerged the victor. There is absolutely no other city in 
America w^ith such a record. 

Seattle was very young v^hen the possibility of a railroad 
coming across the continent and seeking a terminus on Puget 
Sound was first talked about. The idea appealed, however, and 
the settlers felt that Seattle must be the location of such terminus 
as it was the logical point for it. When, in 1864, the Northern 
Pacific received a charter to build a line from some point on Lake 
Superior to a point on Puget Sound, the w^hole Northwest was 
thrown into a state of excitement. In 1 867 the people of the 
Territory of Washington presented a memorial to Congress pray- 
ing for Government aid for the Northern Pacific and the Govern- 
ment treated the company generously in the way of a grant of 
land. In 1 870 Congress amended the act and by the provision of 
the new^ charter permission was given to run the main line dow^n 
the Columbia River and build a branch to Puget Sound, just revers- 
ing the conditions of the original charter. In 1870 w^ork started 
at both ends, on February 15, near Duluth, and in May at Kalama, 
on the Columbia. 

Seattle's first disappointment lay in the refusal of the company 
to build through the Snoqualmie Pass, for, had that natural pass 
for a railway been foUow^ed, Seattle would have become the West- 
ern terminus without a struggle. TTie beginning of physical work on 
the line brought the interest in the selection of a terminus up to 
fever heat and everv settlement on the Sound had hopes of being 
the favored spot. Olympia, Steilacoom, Seattle, Tacoma and Mukil- 
teo were the principal contestants, and Whatcom, Fairhaven, Port 
Townsend, Anacortes, Homes Harbor on Fidalgo Island, and Penn's 



A Momentous Telegram 37 

Cove on Whidby Island had aspirations. Of these Olympia was 
the largest, and by virtue of being the seat of government for the 
Territory had high hopes of drawing the prize. In all of King County 
the population was but 2,164, Seattle claiming 1,142 of it. The 
other tow^ns ranged down from that figure to a dozen or more, 
Tacoma coming about the middle of the list with 200. 

Tacoma w^as never seriously considered except by her handful 
of hopeful citizens, and Seattle waited confidently for word from 
New York that the road would touch the w^aters of Puget Sound 
on her waterfront. The discovery of coal in King County and 
the development of some of the deposits to a point that proved 
their value, further strengthened the conviction that Seattle was the 
only logical terminus. 

In the summer of 1872 a committee of directors of the road 
visited Puget Sound with the announced intention of making a 
selection and its coming stirred the small tovs^ns into a frenzy of 
excitement. Each community made its bid, Seattle offering 7,500 
town lots, 3,000 acres of land, $50,000 in cash, $200,000 in bonds 
and the use of a considerable portion of the waterfront for terminal 
tracks and depot purposes. This demonstrates the value the towns 
attached to the coming of the railroad, for every citizen was per- 
suaded that the town chosen as the terminus would for all time be 
the great city of Puget Sound. The committee cruised around the 
Sound for a week on the steamer North Pacific and received offers 
of all the contesting communities. It returned East with the excite- 
ment still unabated, but had reduced the list of contenders to three — 
Seattle, Tacoma and Mukilteo. With what it considered as its 
strongest opponent — Olympia — eliminated Seattle thought the fight 
was over, for neither Tacoma nor Mukilteo could come anywhere 
near matching the offer the King County metropolis had made. 

For a year the matter dragged along, until on July 14, 1873, 
Arthur A. Denny received a momentous telegram. It read: 

"A. A. Denny, Seattle. Kalama, July 14, 1873. 

"We have located the terminus on Commencement Bay. 
"R. D. Rice, J. C. Ainsworth, Commissioners." 

Picture, if you can, the little town clustered around Yesler's 
mill; one day strong in the conviction that its future was assured 
by the coming of a great transcontinental railroad, the next cast 
dov^^n by the news that it had lost the prize. It was a stunning 
blow, cruel in its total unexpectedness, and all the harder to beeir 
on account of the duration and intensity of the fight having occu- 
pied the minds of the citizens to the exclusion of any thought of 
defeat. Some of the more easily discouraged citizens closed their 



38 The City That Made Itself 

shops and forthwith moved to Tacoma, being firmly convinced 
that any prospect of Seattle developing into anything beyond a 
small mill tow^n had disappeared 

Among the rest the Seattle Spirit was born. 

Within a few days of receipt of the news of the selection of 
Tacoma a meeting v^as held and in its sober senses the little tow^n 
decided that as a railroad would not come to it, it would build a 
road of its own to the outside world. It made a stupendous, epoch- 
marking decision and quietly and unemotionally the city went about 
the business of putting it into effect. Selucius Garfielde, a young 
attorney practicing law in Seattle, in making the principal speech 
at the meeting had pointed out that a line from Seattle, through 
Snoqualmie Pass to the fertile country of which Walla Walla was 
the center, would bring the products of the Inland Empire to Puget 
Sound cheaper than they could be brought by the roundabout route 
of the Northern Pacific, and the citizens acted on his suggestion 
that they build such a road themselves. 

A company was organized — the Seattle and Walla Walla 
Railroad and Transportation Company — and the stock rapidly sub- 
scribed. The trustees of the company were A. A. Denny, John 
Collins, Franklyn Mathias, Angus Mackintosh, H. L. Yesler, James 
McNaught, J. J. McGilvra, Dexter Horton and J. M. Colman. A. A. 
Denny and John J. McGilvra were appointed a committee to visit 
Walla Walla and they were met there with considerable enthu- 
siasm. The legislature was appealed to and passed acts which were 
drawn by McGilvra with a view to lightening the work of financing. 
By next spring, however, the circle of enthusiasm narrowed until 
nearly all of it was back at the starting point, Seattle, and it became 
apparent that if anything were to be done Seattle must do it alone 
and unassisted. In spite of the estimate by General Tilton that it 
would take $4,179,910 to build the road by the lower Yakima route 
and $3,677,962 if it were constructed by way of Priest Rapids, the 
people of Seattle v^rere undaunted and never for a moment relin- 
quished the idea that the town was to have a railroad. To over- 
come the lack of capital they decided to do the work themselves 
and wrote May 1 , 1 874, in large letters into the history of Seattle. 

On that day the entire population of Seattle moved to Steele's 
Landing on the Duwamish River and with its own hands com- 
menced to build the road. All day the men and boys worked, en- 
couraged at noon with a tremendous meal prepared and served by 
the women, and by night quite a respectable lot of grading had 
been done. The party returned home strong in the resolve to con- 
tinue the work by voluntary labor, each man giving one day a 



James M. Colman Takes Charge 39 

week until the road topped the mountains and dropped down on the 
other side. 

The picnic beginning advertised Seattle and stories of her 
pluck and determination reached the outside world, w^ith a bene- 
ficial effect on her population, for emigration to the West was pop- 
ular then and many young men from the East were attracted to 
Seattle. Voluntary work was kept up in a desultory manner, but 
the expectation of having fifteen miles in operation by winter w^as 
not realized, although tw^elve miles had been graded by October. 

The directors of the road had a difficult task before them. 
Money was extremely hard to get and the enterprise lagged but 
never for a moment w^as abandoned. In 1875 arrangements were 
made with Messrs. Renton and Talbot by which a section of five 
miles of the road was completed from Steele's Landing on the Du- 
wamish to their coal mines. This helped a little, but the directors 
were still faced with the big problem of completing the road as a 
whole. Appeals to Congress for assistance produced nothing. Judge 
McFadden, then delegate from the Territory to Congress, had been 
assisted by A. A. Denny, who went to Washington in the interests 
of the railroad. Judge Orange Jacobs was elected to succeed Mc- 
Fadden, his interest in Seattle being urged as a reason for his elec- 
tion, for he was, in common with all other Seattle citizens, a warm 
advocate of the railway. But railroad legislation was unpopular 
at Washington and Judge Jacobs could do nothing. In every pos- 
sible way the Northern Pacific did all it could to defeat the end 
Seattle was endeavoring to accomplish and it was disheartening 
work. 

In addition to money the road needed a man. It was felt that 
if the proper person could be secured he could, in some manner 
not quite apparent at the time, push the enterprise to completion. 
All the time the very man needed was sitting on the board of di- 
rectors. James M. Colman had come to the Sound in 1861 and 
become identified with the lumber interests. By 1875 he was in 
sole control of the Yesler mill and was an extremely busy man. 
Early in 1876 his fellow directors asked him to take charge of the 
destinies of the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad, and he looked 
upon the acceptance of the task as a public duty. From the mo- 
ment he took charge things moved rapidly and Mr. Colman did not 
rest until he had fifteen miles of the road operating at a profit. 

A born mechanic of extraordinary skill, Colman proved him- 
self also an organizer, financier and manager. He first proposed 
that he would put up $10,000 in cash if five other men would each 
advance a similar amount, and if the citizens of the town would 



40 The City That Made Itself 

loan the company $30,000, taking $60,000 stock in the company 
as security for the loan. This proposition was not accepted and 
Mr. Colman finally agreed to advance $20,000 if all the others 
would add $40,000 to it. This proposal came within the financial 
possibilities of the community and was accepted. With this money 
back of him Colman went to work. 

One of the contractors who helped construct the road was Chin 
Gee Hee, a Chinaman who was popular with all those who knew him. 
Fortified with the knowledge he acquired in this country, he returned 
to China and has built a great railway system of his own. 

Meanwhile the Northern Pacific w^as having its own troubles. 
Financing was hard also for it, but it always had time to make it 
as uncomfortable as possible for Seattle. Anyone going from this 
city to Portland had to stay over night in Tacoma both going and 
coming, as the Northern Pacific controlled the steamers on the Sound 
and arranged their schedules with a view of forcing every possible 
point, no matter how small, in favor of Tacoma, the city owned 
by the officers of the company. Seattle was discriminated against 
in freight rates from the opening of the Northern Pacific until the 
growing importance of the city and its very independence of the 
railroad forced the great corporation to lay down its arms and con- 
cede Seattle all the points at issue. But this was only after sixteen 
years of struggle. About the time Colman took charge of the 
Seattle & Walla Walla, Seattle was not supinely yielding to the 
pressure being put upon it by the Northern Pacific. It struck back 
and dealt such telling blow^s that even in the New York offices of 
the railroad it w^as known that the little town on Puget Sound had 
early learned how to put up a fight. 

John J. McGilvra went to Washington to assist Delegate 
Jacobs and the two men did yeoman service for their tow^n. While 
urging the claims of the Seattle & Walla Walla, they also found 
time to attack the Northern Pacific and their strong fight for the 
reopening for settlement of a large portion of the land on Puget 
Sound granted to the railw^ay company added to the embarrassment 
of the Northern Pacific in its efforts to raise enough money to com- 
plete the line. It w^as simply a fight to the finish waged according 
to the rules of the time, the great corporation on one side and the 
little isolated village on the other, each trying to crush its opponent. 

TTie Washington Legislature of 1875 passed a curious act for 
the purpose of assisting the building of the Seattle & Walla Walla 
Railroad through Snoqualmie Pass. By the provisions of the law 
any person could sell his property by lottery provided he paid 1 
per cent of the gross receipts to the railroad fund. On November 



The First Rail Connection 41 

12, 1875, Governor E. P. Ferry approved the measure and shortly 
afterward Henry L. Yesler inaugurated the "First Grand Lottery 
of Washington Territory." He had tickets printed bearing the 
announcement that the lottery was "in aid of the construction of a 
grand territorial road from Seattle, through the Cascade Mountains 
via Snoqualmie Pass, to Walla Walla; 6,000 tickets at $5 coin 
each, or 1 1 for $50; 5,575 prizes, Grand Prize, Seattle Saw Mill 
valued at $100,000." The drawing was to be on July 4, 1876, and 
there w^as a brisk demand for the tickets, approximately 1 ,000 being 
sold; but Judge J. R. Lew^is declared the act unconstitutional. TTius 
ended Washington's first and only flight into the gambling business. 

The first section of the Seattle & Walla Walla road being in 
successful operation as far as Renton, the next extension to the 
mines at Newcastle was made under the energetic supervision of 
Mr. Colman. It w^as hoped that the profits which the road was 
earning would impress Eastern investors who could be prevailed 
upon to advance enough money to construct the remainder of the 
line, but the time was not propitious for floating railroad ventures 
and the little road had to settle down to a life of limited but profit- 
able operation. 

In 1 88 1 Henry Villard became president of the Northern 
Pacific and w^as soon recognized as the greatest financier of his day, 
for his ability to raise money and push construction astonished those 
whose efforts to do the same thing had not met with such instant 
results. His advent into power gave Seattle a breathing spell, for 
it was felt that he was a friend of the city and would remedy the 
situation to the extent of giving Seattle a square deal. In 1 883 
Villard visited the Sound and Seattle offered to contribute $150,000 
to build a standard gauge railroad up the Cedar River valley to 
give Seattle direct connection with the Green River coal deposits, 
and also to connect with the Cascade division of the Northern 
Pacific, provided Mr. Villard would push the construction of that 
portion of his line at once. Mr. Villard's reply w^as non-committal 
but comforting. His action, though, in acquiring the Seattle & 
Walla Walla Railroad and all its holdings through his Oregon Im- 
provement Company, gave Seattle great hope and plunged Tacoma 
into corresponding despair. The price paid for the road was 
$250,000, and the coal mines, land holdings and fleet of ships and 
vessels which carried coal to California ports brought $750,000 
more. 

Seattle's direct connection with the outside world came with 
the extension of the Puget Sound Shore line of the Seattle & Walla 
Walla from Black River Junction to Stuck Junction, where it con- 
nected with a spur line seven miles in length which was constructed 



42 The City That Made Itseli 

by the Northern Pacific to connect with its line to Tacoma. There 
was something grimly suggestive in the name Stuck Junction, for 
Seattle's railroad hopes stuck there for many a weary year. 

In 1884 Villard was forced to retire from the presidency of 
the Northern Pacific and the road was again in the hands of 
Seattle's old enemies. The branch to Stuck Junction was not 
operated, and it was commonly known as the "Orphan Road," for 
no one seemed to own it. Finally farmers along the road and the 
people of Seattle commenced an agitation that prompted the North- 
ern Pacific to take action. At a meeting held in Kent, Judge Han- 
ford pointed out that as the railroad was built on land condemned 
by its builders for public use and was not now being used in 
accordance with the terms of the condemnation, the people them- 
selves had the power to in turn condemn the railroad and operate 
it themselves. This meeting brought the Northern Pacific to time 
and the operation of the branch line was soon begun. But the 
service it provided was wretched. Seattle merchants could secure 
goods only in carload lots and extra charges were made on the 
slightest pretext. Trains never connected with those on the main 
line, Seattle received no recognition in the company's literature, 
and everything which had a tendency to injure the city's interests 
was done by the railroad company. 

For a time it looked as if Seattle were really at the mercy of 
the Northern Pacific. The city was growing at a satisfactory rate 
and was prosperous, the advertising value of the fight it was mak- 
ing being apparent in the yearly statistics. Still the men with a 
vision realized that the city must have railroad connection that 
would mean something, so the advisability of making a fresh start 
was discussed. 

In 1883 there came to Seattle Daniel Hunt Gilman, and he 
was not here long until it developed that he was not only possessed 
of a vision, but that he also loved a fight for the sake of it, had 
good connections in the East and believed in Seattle. Thomas 
Burke, an attorney, had quickly become prominent after his arrival 
in Seattle in 1875, and in every movement for the advancement of 
the interests of the town his voice was heard and his financial assist- 
ance ready. Gilman and Burke had many conversations, with the 
result that the lawyer became convinced that there was merit in the 
other's suggestion to secure money in the East for the construction 
of a road from tidewater around the eastern shore of Lake Wash- 
ington to Sumas, v^^here connection could be made with the Cana- 
dian Pacific Railway, enabling Seattle to snap its fingers at the 
Northern Pacific. 



The La ke Shone & Eastern 4£ 

In 1884 Judge Burke circulated a subscription list among the 
little group of citizens who could always be counted on to assist 
matters of public interest, and $500 was subscribed to send Gilman 
east to sound out the money market. He returned early in 1885 
and on April 1 5 of that year the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern 
Railroad Company was incorporated by the following Seattle citi- 
zens: J. R. McDonald, F. H. Osgood, Thomas Burke, Thos. T. 
Minor, Daniel H. Gilman, John Leary, D. T. Denny, George Kin- 
near, G. M. Haller, Griffith Davies, William Cochrane and J. W. 
Currie. 

The trustees were: J. R. McDonald, Thos. Burke, F. H. Os- 
good, T. T. Minor and James Currie. Officers: J. R. McDonald, 
president; T. T. Minor, vice-president; Thomas Burke, secretary and 
auditor; E. G. Jefferson, assistant secretary; F. H. Osgood, treasurer; 
D. H. Gilman, manager; F. H. Whitworth, engineer; J. W. Currie, 
superintendent of construction. Judge Burke was also attorney. 

This was entirely a Seattle enterprise, and it introduces into 
the history of the city several new names, representing chiefly 
what might be termed the second division of the pioneers. All of 
them realized that the only way to bring the Northern Pacific to 
time was to make an aggressive stand, as a decade of appealing 
to that company had gained Seattle nothing. It was proposed to 
obtain all the money in the East and to Judge Burke was assigned 
the duty of going east to assist Gilman. The Judge found that 
Gilman had tilled the field well and his negotiations with the bank- 
ers, Jamieson, Smith & Cotting, proceeded very pleasantly. 

"We have decided to go into your proposition," was the grati- 
fying announcement made to Judge Burke by Cotting one morning. 
"However, there is one little condition we would like to make. You 
say you have a wonderfully rich country out there and that this 
road should be a big paying enterprise. We will organize a building 
company to construct it and subscribe half a million dollars if you 
will put up $10,000 yourself to show your faith." 

"Good heavens, man!" exclaimed the Judge. "I haven't $10,000 
cash, and never had." 

"If you people out there cannot raise at least 10 per cent of 
the money, I'm afraid we cannot entertain the proposal," was the 
reply of the banker. 

Judge Burke thought for a while. When he got back to Seattle 
the first man he visited was Angus Mackintosh. 

"Angus," said the Judge, "we raised the money in New York 
and we are going to build the road, but in order to put the deal 



44 The City That Made Itself 

through I had to sign an agreement to take $10,000 worth of stock 
in the building company which we are to organize. I haven't got 
$10,000 and I want you to lend it to me." 

Mackintosh made the loan. 

TTie organizing ability of Gilman was again exercised in the 
incorporation of the Puget Sound Construction Company, com- 
posed of practically the same people who had organized the rail- 
way. John Leary, Angus Mackintosh, George Kinnear and J. W. 
Currie each took $10,000 worth of stock, making, with Judge 
Burke's contribution, a fund of $50,000, and the New York bankers 
raised the remaining $450,000. The whole country was enjoying 
great prosperity and the new road started under the most favorable 
auspices. Encouragement was lent to it by the success of the Cana- 
dian Pacific, which had crossed the Rockies from the Canadian plains 
and was in successful operation to Vancouver. The first division 
of the road was to be pushed to Issaquah, v^here a coal deposit had 
been discovered, and its development would provide traffic for the 
road. The $500,000 was expected to take care of that much con- 
struction. In the future it was planned that a line would be built 
eastward to Spokane to meet any road that came from the east, 
and another line north to Sumas, on the Canadian boundary, where 
the Canadian Pacific Railway would meet it. 

As the construction of the first division proceeded the money 
became available, each ten miles of progress being marked by the 
payment by the railroad company to the construction company of 
the cost of the work. It so happened that the bridge across the 
Snohomish River to Snohomish City came at the end of a ten-mile 
stretch and it was being completed as rapidly as possible in order 
that the purse strings of the railroad should automatically be 
loosened. 

With the tacit, if not the active, support of the Northern 
Pacific officials, Eugene Canfield, of Fairhaven, had evolved a scheme 
which was to connect Bellingham Bay and Seattle by railway, and 
secured from Congress the right to build bridges across the rivers 
that lay betw^een the prospective termini of his road. He felt that 
by this Congressional permit his road w^as the only one that could 
cross the rivers, and he opposed the plans of the Seattle company. 
But it made little difference and the construction of a bridge across 
the Snohomish River was begun. This, as might be expected, 
somewhat roiled Canfield, and he, again with the enthusiastic sup- 
port of the Northern Pacific, commenced to make it as unpleasant 
as possible for the Seattle company. To this end he procured an 
injunction in Tacoma to prevent the completion of the Snohomish 



Judge Burke Dodges Writ 45 

bridge. The writ was to be served in Snohomish County as soon 
as the w^orkmen appeared on the bridge site, and the plan was to 
prevent the completion of the bridge across the Snohomish River. 

At that stage in the career of the Seattle & Lake Shore Judge 
Burke vs^as its most active officer. He heard of the impending writ 
and the news disturbed him, for until the bridge was completed a 
large sum of money was tied up. By that time trains were run- 
ning as far as Snohomish River, the service first being inaugurated 
when a few miles of the road w^ere completed and being extended 
as rapidly as the construction advanced. Judge Burke went to the 
depot and found a crowd of passengers waiting to take the train 
to Snohomish. Among them w^as the gentleman with the writ. 
John Leary joined the Judge and together they crawled into the 
cab of the engine. Burke sent the fireman to cut off the engine 
and instructed the engineer to run him and Leary as far as Ballard. 

"But it is just about time for this train to leave for Snohomish 
and there are a lot of passengers w^aiting," protested the engineer. 
"How^ever, if you take the responsibility I w^ill obey your orders." 

"I'll take care of you," said Burke; "all I w^ant you to do is to 
let her out and travel as fast as possible. And never mind stopping 
at Ballard; shoot right through to Snohomish," added the Judge, 
after the engine was well under way. 

As soon as they got to Snohomish the Judge hunted up the 
sheriff, William Whitfield. 

"Billy, hov^^ many deputies have you?" asked Burke. 

"Tv^^o," replied the sheriff. 

"Don't you think there are some desperadoes somewhere on 
the outskirts of the county that would require the attention of your- 
self and your force for the next day or two?" 

"I am quite sure there are," replied the sheriff. "What's up? " 

"Canfield and his crowd are tryiner to give us trouble in getting 
our bridge to this side of the river. They have a w^rit and I don't 
wish it to be served. If you will keep after those desoeradoes until 
I send for you I think you w^ill be show^ing commendable enthusiasm 
in the discharge of your sworn duty to stamp out law^lessness." 

The sheriff and his force departed and vs^hile Burke and Leary 
put every available man to w^ork on the bridge the engine returned 
to Seattle to bring the passengers who had been left on the depot 
platform. When the man with the writ reached Snohomish City 
the work was well under w^ay and his search for an official to serve 
the papers on Judge Burke occupied so much time that the bridge 



46 The City That Made Itself 

was completed before he was successful. When the matter came 
up in court the bridge w^as an accomplished fact and an injunction 
to prevent its completion had no standing. 

It was w^ork such as this which caused the men associated with 
Burke to follow blindly when he led. This spirit was exemplified 
about the time of the bridge incident. Gilman was in the East to 
raise more money and w^hile he was there a pamphlet issued by 
Canfield, in which he quoted many of the leading law^yers of the 
state to the effect that the Seattle & Lake Shore could not legally 
cross any of the rivers included in the permit Canfield had secured 
from Congress, was issued and copies of it sent to the Eastern 
bankers with whom Gilman w^as negotiating. 

"TTiis looks bad, Gilman," said one of the bankers. "A rail- 
road that can't cross rivers is not a good one to invest money in." 

"Who says we can't cross the rivers?" demanded Gilman, who 
had not seen the pamphlet. 

"A couple of ex-Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of your 
territory and other leading legal authorities." 

"I don't care two v^^hoops for all the Supreme Court Judges 
on earth," declared Seattle's representative. "Tom Burke is an 
ex-Chief Justice, too, and he says we can cross them, and when 
Tom Burke says anything that settles it." 

It apparently did, for the money came and Tom Burke built 
his bridges. 

The first depot of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern was 
erected at the foot of Columbia Street, or near it, on Western 
Avenue. It soon became apparent that for sidetracks and storage 
room not nearly enough ground Vi'as available. At this juncture 
Judges Han ford and Burke appeared before the City Council and 
secured the passage of an ordinance creatine Railroad Avenue, 
which was 1 20 feet wide, designed to afford an entrance to all 
transcontinental railroads coming to Seattle. The Northern Pacific 
had built a stub line from Puyallup to Black River, from which 
Doint it was operating trains in desultorv fashion over the Seattle- 
built road into Seattle. Thirty feet of this valuable strip for the 
entire length of Railroad Avenue was offered wthout price to the 
Northern Pacific, and thirty feet to the new^ railroad enterprise to 
Sumas. In that singularly short-sighted policy v/hich characterized 
the earlier years of the development of its service the Northern 
Pacific never took advantage of this offer, becoming piqued over 
the fact that Gilman had procured first choice of the ground for his 
Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern road, and refused it, or at least never 
took advantage of it. 



Northern Pacific Surrenders 47 

The necessity for more money to continue the construction of 
the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern to Spokane and Sumas having 
arisen there vv^as formed another construction company — the Seattle 
& Eastern Construction Company — again with practically the same 
stockholders as the two previous organizations, and the five men 
who had contributed $10,000 each to the first construction company 
doubled their subscription in the new company, m.aking the invest- 
ment of each in the railroad enterprise $30,000. The New^ York 
bankers put up their share, completing a fund of $1,000,000 w^hich 
immediately became available for construction. Thus fortified, this 
purely Seattle organization commenced work at Spokane and built 
forty miles of road eastw^ard to connect with the line to Seattle. 

In the early 90's things happened quickly in Seattle's fight. 
The Northern Pacific, startled somewhat by the remarkable success 
w^hich w^as meeting the city's efforts to build a railroad, purchased 
the control of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern from the Eastern 
stockholders and surrendered completely on every point that was 
still an issue after seventeen years of fruitless effort to vs^ipe Seattle 
off the map. The city had waxed fat on the fight, had a population 
of 40,000, modern buildings, street cars and every other attribute 
of a metropolis-in-the-making, and it did not need the Northern 
Pacific. A new era for it dawned and for the past score of years 
Seattle and the Northern Pacific have lived in peace and plenty. 
Seattle, indeed, has no reason to be otherwise than grateful to the 
railroad company, for it was on the strength cultivated w^ithin its 
borders in its long fight that the city built the firm foundation upon 
which it is still erecting a great structure. Nothing cements a people 
like a menace of danger from the outside; this was the underlying 
force that spurred every Seattle citizen on to deeds of civic valor 
in the early days, and it engendered a feeling of self-reliance and 
courage that equipped the people to meet with fortitude and good 
cheer the fire of 1 889 that practically wiped out the business section 
of the city. 

Even the coming of the Great Northern Railway, which is 
treated separately in the next chapter, did not realize Seattle's early 
dream of a railroad through Snoqualmie Pass. After half a century 
of struggle the pass still yaw^ned vacantly. The Great Northern had 
traversed the mountains north of this natural channel. Seattle felt 
that it did not particularly care whether any other roads came, but all 
the old-timers felt that they would die happier if their early faith was 
vindicated by the laying of rails through Snoqualmie Pass. 

Then along came the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and 
used the pass. Without any flourish of trumpets the road com- 
menced its westward journey on April 15, 1906, and on March 29, 



48 The City That Made Itself 

1 909, the last rail was laid and the line put in operation, a feat in 
railroad construction that probably has not been equalled elsewhere 
in railroad history. The Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad, the 
little line which Seattle commenced to build with its own hands 
under the name of Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad — the little line 
that must ever be a monument to the bravery, determination and 
faith of Seattle's early settlers — became by lease a portion of the 
Milwaukee, and if the roadbed had thoughts and could give them 
expression it must have shouted with the pleasure of a gratified 
ambition when it felt the weight of the first transcontinental train 
upon its shoulders. The road is now owned by the Pacific Coast 
Company. 

And still the story of Seattle's railroads was not written. On 
January 1, 1910, the Oregon- Washington Railroad ran its first 
train over its ow^n tracks into Seattle. The Harriman system appre- 
ciated the importance of reaching Seattle and in 1907 its desire to 
do so became know^n by the purchase on its behalf of lands for 
terminals on the tideflats in the south end of the city. An extraor- 
dinary boom in tidelands occurred and fortunes were made over 
night, a great number of lots changing hands at figures they have 
not been able to bring since. With J. D. Farrell as president, the 
construction of this link in the Union Pacific system proceeded with- 
out interruption, a feature of its entry into Seattle being the fact 
that it asked nothing from anybody but purchased and paid for in 
cash every foot of ground it needed. It broke ground for its mag- 
nificent depot in 1 909 and it was completed and occupied on May 
I, 1911. On January 1, 1910, it ran its first train into Seattle, 
using a temporary depot at Railroad Avenue and Dearborn Street 
until its ambitious home was ready. The new depot is also used 
now^ by the Milwaukee line, that system having run its first train 
into it on May 25, 1911. A feature of the construction of this 
depot was that it w^as built from the tideflats level and the streets 
it reached in climbing upward were improved by the company and 
presented to the city. 

The company is now known as the Oregon-Washington 
Railroad & Navigation Company. Its head office is in Portland, 
Oregon, and Mr. Farrell is still its president, having become one of 
the really big men in the American railroad world. For many years 
he was a citizen of Seattle and played a prominent part in many of 
the city's activities, his interests in Seattle still being very extensive. 

Now Seattle's position on the railway map is fixed. Other 
roads will come to her in time, not because she needs them, but 
because the roads need Seattle. The fight is won. 




(Cpper) Seattle's First tTnambitlons Depot, from a Photngrraph Taken During the Fire of IH89. 
(Lower) Railroad Avenue Durinx tlie Klondilie Excitement. 



CHAPTER FIVE 



COMING OF GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD 



IMPERIAL RICHARD on Bosworth Field yearned no more 
fervently for a horse than did Seattle for a railway during the 
eighties. The Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern was reaching 
out from Seattle towards connection with the Canadian Pacific at 
Sumas, but with the connection established Seattle would be but the 
end of a branch Hne instead of the terminus of a main line, as it 
desired to be. The continued abuse to which the Northern Pacific 
subjected the city, the w^retched service over the branch to Stuck 
Junction and the failure of the Seattle & Walla Walla line to 
achieve the destiny that was the hope of its founder, had made the 
people almost give up hope of ever getting what they felt the city 
must have if it were to grow^ great. 

In the late eighties drooping spirits were revived by rumors 
regarding the Great Northern. James J. Hill was pushing the St. 
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway westward across the north- 
ern tier of states, and reports of the presence of numerous survey 
parties in the mountains w^ere received and discussed w^ith lively 
interest. A line was run by the engineer through the Skagit Pass 
and in that there was little cheer for Seattle, as it indicated Fair- 
haven as the terminus. The town on Bellingham Bay was doing 
all it could to induce Mr. Hill to come there, and when the "Empire 
Builder" himself visited it the offer of a free right-of-way and all 
the land that could possibly be used for terminals was made to him. 

Mr. Hill came to Seattle and spent some time studying every 
angle of the local situation. He interviewed leading citizens and 
was assured that if he brought his line here he would have no diffi- 
culty in securing a right-of-way and room for terminals. He re- 
turned to St. Paul without in anyway signifying Tvhat his intentions 
were, leaving both Fairhaven and Seattle still on the anxious seat. 

Some months later Colonel W. P. Clough, Mr. Hill's attorney, 
came quietly to Seattle, so quietly, in fact, that the papers did not 
chronicle his arrival. He went to the law office of Judge Thomas 
Burke and introduced himself. 

"Mr. Hill has decided to have Seattle as his terminal point and 
would like to secure a right-of-way and room for terminals," was 
the startling announcement he made quietly to Burke. "He wants 
you to represent him here and you are authorized to do anything 
in his behalf that you think is necessary. He expects Seattle to live 

49 



50 The City That Made Itseli 

up to its promise of an unobstructed entrance and no legislative diffi- 
culties. Will you accept the job?" 

Judge Burke would. 

It was not long before Seattle knew that Burke was attorney 
for Mr. Hill and that he had instructions to pave the way for the 
entry of the railway into Seattle. It was not definite assurance 
that the railway w^as coming, for the fulfillment of Seattle's prom- 
ises was a condition precedent to the final decision, but the enthu- 
siasm of the city was great. Hope again ran high, but there had 
been so many disappointments in the past that a large portion of 
the public decided to postpone any wild outburst of joy until they 
saw a locomotive, with some of Mr. Hill's cars attached to it, steaming 
into a Seattle depot. 

Judge Burke immediately set about preparing a franchise 
granting the railway, which I shall hereafter refer to as the Great 
Northern, the name it finally adopted, a right-of-way from the 
northern boundary of the city, along the waterfront by Railroad 
Avenue, to the tideflats south of the city. The franchise provided 
that the Hill line v^as to have sixty feet of space, sufficient for four 
tracks, but that other railroad companies in the future v/ere to have 
the use of the tracks on the payment of rental to the Great North- 
ern. This w^as the first practical application of the "common user" 
clause and its inclusion in the franchise vv^as to preserve for Rail- 
road Avenue the destiny that was intended for it when it was laid 
out. 

When Judge Cornelius Hanford and Judge Burke were secur- 
ing a right-of-way for the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway 
they encountered considerable difficulty along the waterfront. First 
Avenue, at that time, was practically the eastern shore of Elliott 
Bay, although the shore line was wavering. The Seattle & Walla 
Walla Railroad had secured a right-of-way along the land and it 
conformed with the contour of the shore, which made it amble in 
so many directions that it became known in Seattle's railway his- 
tory as the "Ramshorn " franchise. How^ to run another railroad 
along the waterfront without bumping into this meandering prior 
right-of-way was a problem in engineering gymnastics that the two 
law^yers were unequal to, so they came to the conclusion to settle 
the problem for all time by laying out Railroad Avenue 1 20 feet 
wide with its eastern boundary line outside the high-tide line, thus 
putting the entire street in the water. It was an ambitious thin-^ 
for the small city to do, but nothing was greater than the city's 
ambition, so the Council adopted the suggestion. Hanford and 
Burke desired Seattle to have a pathway that all railroads could 
follow into the city and to provide them with the cheapest and 



Northern Pacific Fights 51 

most available entrance that they could get anyvs^here on Puget 
Sound. For the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern the first thirty feet 
on the land side was granted, leaving ninety feet still available for 
other roads. 

When Judge Burke commenced to draw up the franchise for 
the Great Northern he appreciated that if sixty feet were granted 
the road there would only be thirty feet left for whatever railroads 
sought admission to Seattle in the future. As far as he could see 
there was no other route by which a road could enter Seattle, for 
tunneling was not as common in those days as it has become since. 
The idea of running beneath the city had never occurred to anyone. 
To overcome the difficulty from the standpoint of the city's interests 
and to secure for his client what it was seeking, the Judge wrote 
into the franchise a "common user" clause which gave all other 
roads that might wish to use them the privilege of running trains 
over the Great Northern tracks on payment of reasonable rental. 
This was the first practical use of the "common user" clause in any 
city in America. 

Every difficulty that the Northern Pacific could put in the way 
of the Great Northern's advance to the Pacific Coast was resorted 
to, and when Judge Burke's connection with the Hill line became 
known the Northern Pacific accepted it as a further challenge. 
Under the general direction of Paul Schultze the Northern Pacific 
waged a war on the Great Northern from Tacoma, James McNaught, 
the company's attorney, being on the ground in Seattle in local 
command. Although Judge Burke had been in the employ of the 
Hill line only a few weeks and scarcely knew Mr. Hill personally, 
he was left alone to conduct that company's fight. And a fight it 
was. Despite the fact that nothing had occurred in the past to indi- 
cate to Seattle that the Northern Pacific was anything but its enemy, 
the fight the company put up against the Hill franchise gained con- 
siderable strength. It had been an early idea that Seattle was a 
difficult city for a railway to enter and the Northern Pacific forces 
urged that in support of the contention that the Great Northern had 
no intention of coming here, but was merely using Seattle as a club 
to force Fairhaven to grant better terms. It was early seen, how- 
ever, that the Great Northern's entrance into the city could not be 
checked, so the fight was directed against the terms of the franchise 
with a view to amending it so that it would be of little use to Hill. 
It was contended that to give sixty feet of space on Railroad 
Avenue would ruin the city's waterfront, and that four tracks were 
out of all reason as the road would never use them. Even for four 
tracks, it was also argued, sixty feet was ridiculous, as fifteen feet 
for each track was a profligate waste of space. 



52 The City That Made Itself 

Against these arguments Judge Burke fought, and on his side 
were the papers, which had been approached by the Northern 
Pacific in an effort to have them oppose Hill; but despite the fact 
that times were hard then and the papers badly needed money they 
spurned the offers and fought loyally for the franchise. The chief 
difficulty in Judge Burkes way was the opposition of many honest 
people in Seattle who became really convinced that the city v/ould 
be bottled up if the franchise were granted, the presence of the 
common user clause in the franchise not reassuring them, as no 
amount of explanation seemed to give them a thorough under- 
standing of it. 

When Judge Burke w^as ready he centered his strength on the 
City Council and pressed the fight. Within one week he appeared 
before the committee of the Council to which the application had 
been referred, obtained a favorable report, took it to the Council 
and at a special meeting carried it through with a unanimous vote. 
The speed v^ith which he vsforked svs^ept the Northern Pacific forces 
off their feet. 

With the granting of the franchise Seattle seemed to realize 
that the railw^ay was really coming and the vs^hole city was elated. 

The next step was for Seattle to make good on its promise to 
Hill that enough ground for terminals, in addition to an unob- 
structed right-of-way, w^ould be given him. A large number of 
private citizens had property, subject to the state's prior claim, on 
the tideflats in the southern part of the city. Judge Burke appealed 
to each of them in turn. One after another they agreed to relin- 
quish their rights to the desired land and matters were proceeding 
nicely until one man w^as encountered v/ho refused to make the 
necessary sacrifice. He demanded $10,000 for that portion of his 
land w^hich the railway needed and no amount of appeal to his 
appreciation of the civic interest involved altered his determination. 

In itself it was a small matter; at that particular juncture of 
the negotiations it assumed alarming proportions. The investiga- 
tions of Mr. Hill on Puget Sound had persuaded him that the 
people of Seattle were of the sort that he desired to do business 
w^ith ; he had been interested in the fight they had waged, and, 
being a fighter himself, he admired them, going so far as to say 
he vs^ould give them the city they had tried so hard to build. In 
its turn Seattle had promised uncontested entry into the city and 
had assured him that every man, woman and child wanted him. 
Without having given any official assurance the honor of Seattle 
was none the less pledged to the complete fulfillment of the promises 
made by its committees of citizens. Fairhaven had not yet been 



A Secret Subscription List 53 

finally abandoned and the least disruption of the program might 
lose to Seattle the prize it so badly needed and had striven so 
earnestly to gain. 

Judge Burke had grown used to collecting money. Before he 
had been two years in Seattle he had set out w^ith a subscription list 
to secure sufficient money to build a tw^o-plank sidewalk along First 
Avenue from Pike Street to Belltown, and at the head of the list 
w^as his own name and the amount of his personal subscription, 
$1. In the present emergency he drew up another subscription list 
and again his name was at its head and opposite it was $1 ,000. He 
made no popular appeal, for it was as necessary that Mr. Hill knew 
nothing of the transaction as it \vas that the money should be raised. 
The case was put before Jacob Furth, John Collins, John Leary, 
Angus Mackintosh, Henry L. Yesler, A. A. Denny, Dexter Horton, 
Amos Brown and J. M. Colman, and each of them promptly sub- 
scribed $1,000. The $10,000 was paid to the obdurate property 
owner. That the money was collected was not generally known 
even at the time, Mr. Hill was never informed of it, and this is the 
first time any public announcement of it has been made. 

The strip of land thus acquired gave Mr. Hill terminal room 
nearly a mile long and two blocks wide south of Dearborn Street. 

At that time construction of the Great Northern was proceed- 
ing through Montana and it was pressed through Idaho and Wash- 
ington to Puget Sound, the first train coming into Seattle over the 
completed system in the summer of 1893. 

As soon as the line was opened Mr. Hill commenced to give 
his attention to his Seattle terminals. His closer study of the city 
persuaded him that the land for the freight terminals was too far 
from the wholesale district and that he needed some more land 
between his then holdings and Jackson Street. He gave Judge 
Burke instructions to purchase outright four full blocks upon which 
buildings of various sorts were occupied as stores, residences, ho- 
tels, etc. 

In view of the manner in which the purchase of property for 
railroads has been conducted at other times as well as in other 
cities the method w^hich Judge Burke now adopted was unique. He 
went directly to each owner, told him that Hill wanted his holdings 
and that he, Burke, expected to obtain it at the smallest possible 
price. The situation was explained. Until the Great Northern 
was completely satisfied with its holdings in Seattle there would still 
be danger that Fairhaven might ultimately become the distributing 
center for the Hill system. Mr. Hill had always maintained that 
adequate terminals which permitted the rapid and economical 



54 The City That Made Itself 

handling of freight were the very vitals of a railway system and as 
important to it as deep water is to a ship. 

"We want to be able to say to Mr. Hill," urged Judge Burke, 
" 'You now^ have better terminal facilities in Seattle than you can 
possibly get in any other city on Puget Sound.' We want to see 
that he is not held up, but that he gets what he wants at a reason- 
able price. I pledge you my word that 1 will not pay anyone a 
higher rate than I do you." 

Every ow^ner except one put his faith in Judge Burke and 
agreed to accept a smaller price for his holdings than he would 
have asked from anyone else. It so happened that the one man 
who held out was a resident of St. Paul and a former business asso- 
ciate of Mr. Hill. The attorney reported the facts to the railroad 
president and Hill replied that the amount was not w^orth worrying 
over and that he would pay his St. Paul friend the price he asked. 

This letter from Mr. Hill provoked a reply that somewhat 
startled him and gave him a new impression of the fighting attorney 
who represented him in Seattle. 

"If you pay your friend more than you pay my neighbors 
for the same class of property," telegraphed Judge Burke, "please 
consider my resignation in your hands." 

"It's no use," said Hill to his friend when he showed him 
Burke's telegram. "The matter is out of my hands. You'll have 
to see Burke." 

The friend sav^r Burke, accepted the same price as the other 
ow^ners — and the last remaining obstacle to the complete satisfac- 
tion of Mr. Hill with the situation in Seattle was removed. The 
"Empire Builder's" remarkable foresight was demonstrated by this 
purchase. His tracks nov^^ run to the doors of all the big whole- 
sale houses in the south end of the city. A car loaded with mer- 
chandise for it can be run directly into the building of the Seattle 
Hardware Company, the doors closed behind it and the car un- 
loaded at the company's leisure w^ithout a dollar of expense for 
drayage. 

Another incident in connection v^^ith the acquisition of the 
property is worthy of note. All of it was purchased in Mr. Hill's 
name and was held in the same way until after his development 
here had increased the values enormously. He at last ordered it 
transferred to the railway company and w^as asked by the account- 
ing department if he would have it valued so that he could get 
credit on the books for the advance in value. 

"Transfer it for just what I paid for it, " he ordered. 



Hill Tackles Lumber Rate 55 

"Will we give you credit for the interest?" he was asked. 

"Never mind the interest," he said. 

Mr. Hill might have conformed to the conception of some 
people of business morals and obtained for his personal account all 
the profits on the real estate, but his idea of his duty to the stock- 
holders of his company was such that he never considered it for a 
moment. This was in line with his policy of never accepting a 
dollar of salary from the Great Northern during all the years he 
has served it, a policy that explains why he has never had any 
trouble in raising all the money he ever needed for construction, 
and, further, for the fact that Great Northern stock has never been 
a football on Wall Street. 

TTie road was not yet in operation before Mr. Hill made a 
personal inspection of the timber resources in this section of the 
country. He knew^ his cars would be coming to the Coast full of 
merchandise but v/ould be returning empty, a condition that such 
a thorough railway man could not tolerate. 

"Unless I can move that crop," he said to Judge Burke, indi- 
cating on a map the great timber limits of the state, "I might as 
well not have built the railroad. First, it is a natural product which 
is in demand; second, unless it is moved there w^ill be no room for 
farmers. It must be moved at a low rate, lower than any such 
commodity was ever moved in the history of the world. Ask the 
lumbermen what they can pay to get their lumber to the Middle 
West." 

The rate was then ninety cents a hundred and lumbermen had 
little hope of any substantial reductions. Among others with whom 
Judge Burke conferred was George W. Stetson, for many years 
a prominent Seattle lumberman. 

"If we had a rate of sixty cents we might do something," said 
Stetson, "but it is a waste of time to discuss it. No railway man 
on earth will cut his rates thirty-three and a third per cent." 

This was the tenor of the opinion of all the lumbermen and 
Judge Burke carried the information to Mr. Hill at St. Paul. 

"Sixty cents!" declared the railroad president. "TTiey're crazy. 
At that rate they couldn't compete with Southern pine. I think 
I'll have to make the rate fifty cents, and perhaps I'll have to cut it 
squarely in two. I'll investigate further and let you know." 

Within a week after Judge Burke's return to Seattle lumbermen 
were astounded at securing word that with the opening of the line 
the rate on lumber would be forty cents. The result of this sweep- 
ing cut was magical; the woods became alive, and instead of the 



56 The City That Made Itself 

empty cars going eastward they were soon coming westward, for 
there was not enough westbound traffic to offset the enormous lum- 
ber shipments to the prairie states. In a twinkling the value of 
the Washington timber holdings had increased by an amount as 
great as the capital stock of the Great Northern Railroad Company. 

The rate on lumber granted by the Great Northern provided 
for its transportation from Puget Sound as far east as St. Paul, over 
two great mountain ranges, at a rate of two-fifths of a cent per ton 
mile, the lowest rate ever given in the w^orld under anything like the 
same conditions. Railroad men laughed at the rate as preposterous 
and said that the road that gave it w^ould soon be in the receiver's 
hands. There was no bankruptcy, however, and the state of Wash- 
ington entered upon an era of development, of growth in popula- 
tion and of general prosperity almost without a parallel even in this 
country of w^onderful grovs^ths. 

He is not necessarily an old-timer who can remember the depot 
at the foot of Columbia Street which the Great Northern maintained 
in Seattle for years. It was perhaps the worst excuse for a depot 
operated by any railw^ay in the world in a city as large as Seattle had 
become. It was a sore spot with the citizens, w^ho had to apologize 
for it every time anyone landed at it from a distance. Mr. Hill was 
importuned in season and out of season to provide a proper depot, 
but he was busy developing his system and gave little heed to the 
pleas for ornamentation. "He is a wise farmer who develops his 
farm before he builds a palace on it, " Mr. Hill w^ould say. "It is 
more important to Seattle to have goods delivered to it cheaply than 
to have a fancy depot, and I am devoting my attention to the more 
important thing." 

But Seattle was not satisfied and it hailed with delight a pro- 
posal made to it in I 899 by its ancient enemy, the Northern Pacific. 
Charles S. Mellen had become the president of the road, w^hich by 
this time was giving Seattle a respectable service. He quietly 
bought up a large part of the v^^aterfront from Washington Street to 
University Street and then announced that he was going to erect a 
$500,000 depot of which the city would be proud. Attractive draw- 
ings showing a perspective of the proposed structure were displayed 
in shop windows and the city congratulated itself upon the fact that 
another of its dreams was to be realized. 

Judge Burke yawned — and entered the fight. 

The Mellen plan was an ambitious one. The general who rep- 
resented the Northern Pacific on the ground was C. J. Smith, an 
able and experienced railroad man and a resourceful fighter. Mr. 
Smith had made all the purchases of the lots along the waterfront in 




\.^K. 



58 The City That Made Itself 

still lengthier attack on them. Interviews with many prominent cit- 
izens were published and, in view of the fact that even the supporters 
of the Northern Pacific's proposal must now see the wisdom of its 
rejection, it is interesting to note what some of the citizens thought 
of the matter at that time. Stripped of the reasons advanced for their 
stand, this is how those interviewed stood: John Schram, against the 
proposal; Edward B. Burwell, leaning dubiously toward it; J. M. 
Colman, against; Judge C. H. Hanford, for; Dexter Horton, most 
unequivocably against granting the Northern Pacific anything; David 
Gilmore, for; Judge Orange Jacobs, against, for the reason that "in 
the future if I should desire to go to the waterfront to catch a tom- 
cod I might be charged more for passing over private property than 
the fish would be worth"; J. B. MacDougall, for; George Kinnear, 
against; E. F. Blaine, for; N. H. Latimer, against; Samuel Rosen- 
berg, for; Robert H. Lindsay, against "the outrage"; Albert Hansen, 
for; Judge J. J. McGilvra, against; Julius Redelsheimer, for; Robert 
Abrams, against; Herman Chapin, for; Judge James M. Epler, 
against; Captain Elmer E. Caine, for; L. C. Gilman (later Mr. Hill's 
attorney), for; L. Schoenfeld, for; Clinton A. Harrison, for; James 
D. Hoge, for; J. W. Clise, for. 

I summarize the interviews in the order in which they are pub- 
lished in the Post-Intelligencer. It will be noticed that with great im- 
partiality the paper alternated the "for" and "against" interviews 
until they ran out of "againsts." In view of the fact that the popu- 
lation of the city is now (1914) over three hundred thousand it is 
interesting to note that in the lengthy presentation of his views Judge 
Burke stated his belief that he would live to see the population of the 
city 250,000. 

When the time came, early in 1 900, for the Council to take 
action, both sides presented their cases. Judge Burke reviewed the 
history of the Northern Pacific's early antagonism to Seattle and 
asked the Councilmen from whom they expected they would get the 
better treatment — the company that had all its interests in Tacoma 
and had always fought Seattle, or James J. Hill, who had long since 
proved his friendship for the city. 

After the Council meeting at which the matter was disposed of 
Judge Burke went to a telegraph office and wrote this message to 
Mr. Hill: 

"City Council stood by you twelve to one, and the one came in 
to make it unanimous." 

It was said at the St. Paul offices of the road that no telegram 
was ever received there which gave Mr. Hill more pleasure. It bore 
a message, subtle but emphatic, of Seattle's faith in James J. Hill and 



Tunnel Under the City 59 

its refusal to be induced, even by a toy which it long had prayed for, 
to do anything that might embarrass the Hill plans here. 

An echo of that fight was heard in New York some yeeirs later. 

"I see you are planning to enter Seattle," said Mellen to E. H. 
Harriman, 

"Yes, what about it?" replied Harriman. 

"Well," said Mellen, "I've been out there and am pretty well 
posted. If you want to get into that city you had better first get the 
permission of Judge Burke. He is Jim Hill's attorney." 

Mr. Harriman related the incident when on a visit to Seattle 
about the time his road entered the city. 

There being no further worlds to conquer, the Great Northern 
being an accomplished fact and the depot question lying dormant 
once again, Judge Burke decided to go to Europe for a rest. On his 
way through St. Paul he called on Mr. Hill. 

"Judge," said the railroad president, "I want you to look at 
these maps. 1 think I will run a tunnel right through there and give 
your people a depot right there. What do you think about it?" 

"Magnificent! " exclaimed the attorney. "But it will take a lot 
of work. I'll go right back and begin. " 

"I'm sorry to interrupt your trip to Europe," said Mr. Hill. 

"Not at all," replied the Judge. "My neighbors will be glad to 
see me back with such news as this. " 

When Judge Burke returned to Seattle he announced the pro- 
posed boring of the tunnel which now^ passes under the business sec- 
tion and reaches the tidelands upon which Hill constructed his 
terminals. A large number of private owners had to be seen, and in 
every case where there w^as liable to be any friction the property was 
purchased outright. It is an interesting sidelight on the early history 
of the tunnel that the Great Northern had more trouble with the City 
Council than it did with any private owner ; but at last every obstacle 
was swept aside and the construction of the tunnel commenced in 
1 902. It was completed in 1 905 and the first trains run through it 
to the magnificent station that now serves both the Great Northern 
and the Northern Pacific. 

This two-track passage beneath the city is Seattle's salvation 
from a transportation standpoint. It allows freight and passenger 
trains to enter the city without disturbing traffic on Railroad Avenue, 
that thoroughfare being confined solely to the exchange of freight 
between cars and ships. It is now apparent that the city w^ould surely 
have committed commercial suicide if the project of the Northern 
Pacific to erect a depot on the waterfront had been permitted. 



60 The City That Made Itself 

Such is the history of the Great Northern's coming to Seattle. 
Time has shown that every step ever taken by Mr. Hill could not 
have been taken with more regard to the city's welfare had he been 
working for the city instead of for the railroad company. He, indeed, 
has been a powerful friend of Seattle. 

Judge Burke made his delayed trip to Europe. On his way 
through St. Paul on the second attempt, he again called on Mr. Hill. 

"I'm through," said the attorney, "and am going for a good, long 
rest. Out in Seattle is just the man you w^ant for my successor. His 
name is L. C. Oilman, and you will be lucky if you can get him." 

Mr. Hill got him, and Mr. Oilman has show^n such exceptional 
ability as a railw^ay man that he is, in 1914, president of the Spokane 
& Portland Railway, an important Hill line, and there is every indica- 
tion that he will rise even higher in the raiWay world. He is a 
brother, it is interesting to note, of Daniel Hunt Oilman, w^ho played 
such a prominent part in the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern, as related 
in the preceding chapter. 

To sum up the benefits conferred on Seattle and the w^hole 
Northwest by the construction of the Oreat Northern, 1 can do no 
better than quote from a speech delivered by Judge Burke at the 
launching of the steamship Minnesota — still the wrorld's greatest 
cargo carrier — at the New London, Conn., shipyards, April 16, 
1903. Said the Judge: 

"The important event of the launching of the Minnesota 
impresses me like the fulfillment of a prophecy, or the realization of 
a wonderful dream. It is now something more than twelve years 
since, in the course of an evening's conversation at St. Paul, Mr. 
James J. Hill outlined to me a plan — a system of transportation by 
land and by water w^hich w^ould reach from New York to Yokohama 
and Hongkong. As the details of the project were laid before me, the 
boldness of the conception and the colossal character of the under- 
taking made me think that the author was dreaming, or giving me a 
chapter out of some new Arabian Nights; but, as events soon 
showed, it proved to be no idle dream, for with unexampled energy 
and rapidity the new railway line was pushed forward in its course 
across the continent, over two great ranges of mountains, across 
turbulent rivers and through an almost impenetrable forest, down to 
the shores of Puget Sound. Never before had so stupendous an 
enterprise been undertaken and successfully carried through without 
Oovernment aid. The country for more than half the distance was 
still in its primeval state. 

"The reputed wise men of the day characterized the enterprise 
as foolhardy and predicted disaster as the result. Under the kind of 



Benefits of Great Northern 61 

railway management that formerly prevailed, the prediction might 
have been verified; but a new and original force had arisen in the 
world of transportation and of commerce, one who united in himself 
the imagination to conceive, the power and energy to execute and 
the practical wisdom successfully to manage and direct great enter- 
prises — a combination of quaHties rarely found united in the same 
person. Long before the last spike was driven on the shores of Puget 
Sound, wise and energetic measures were taken to secure the early 
and rapid settlement of the new country. The best class of settlers 
from the Eastern states, and from among the most thrifty and in- 
dustrious populations of Europe, were encouraged to seek homes in 
this new land by unusually low rates for home-seekers and for their 
household goods, by timely advice and aid in the selection of the 
place for the future settlement and by the thousand and one little at- 
tentions which go so far to smooth the way for the unfamiliar stranger. 
And now, in less than a decade, what was practically a wild and 
uninhabited country has been transformed as if by magic into cul- 
tivated and productive farms, supporting in comfort and independ- 
ence hundreds of thousands of people, with towns, villages and cities 
springing up all along the line of the railway and with the little 
school-house and the church in sight of almost every farm. 

"It was, as you know, the opinion of the celebrated Dean of St. 
Patrick's that 'Whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades 
of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before 
would deserve better of mankind and do more essential service to his 
country than the whole race of politicians put together.' 

"Judged by this standard, the soundness of which few will be 
found to question, there is no man of this generation, at home or 
abroad, who deserves better of mankind, or has done more essential 
service to his country than James J. Hill. Twenty-five years ago he 
found the Northwest, between Minnesota and Puget Sound, prac- 
tically a wild, uninhabited and inaccessible country. A considerable 
section of it used to be set down in the old geographies as a part of 
the Great American Desert. 'Yet, largely owinq to his superior 
knowledge of the real character and capabilities of this new land, and 
through his wonderful energy and abilitv in providing for it, even in 
advance of population, the most judiciously planned, the most 
economically constructed and the most wisely managed line of 
railway that ever served a new country, that region has, in less than 
fifteen years, given four new states to the Union with an aggregate 
population of more than 1,500,000 people. 

"If it be true that philanthroi^y looks to the promotion of human 
welfare by preventing the suffering or improving the condition of 
large numbers of people, then the truest expression of philanthropy, 



62 The City That Made Itself 

the one that is dearest to the human heart, is that vs^hich helps thou- 
sands and tens of thousands of self-respecting men and women to 
help themselves; is that which opens the way for the deserving and 
industrious thousands of other and less happy lands to provide homes 
of comfort and independence for themselves and for their families; 
to secure for their children and their children's children the inesti- 
mable opportunity of education and of making careers of usefulness 
and honor under the beneficent influences of a free government. 

"What greater service than this can any one render to his fellow 
men? Yet, to James J. Hill belongs this rare distinction. He has 
opened the door of opportunity literally to hundreds of thousands of 
people now living in happy homes of their own who, without hia 
labors to open the way for and to help them, might today be num- 
bered among the homeless. This, in brief, is the real character of the 
services rendered by James J. Hill to his country and to mankind. 

"He has not escaped the common fate of those who, in every 
age, have gone in advance of their fellow^s. He has been 'challenged 
and traversed at every turn in the road.' This is due, in part at least, 
to that strange and curious quality of human nature which has led 
many good people in every age to discover the 'bogie man' in what- 
ever was new^ or strange or not understood. In former times the 
introduction of every new and useful machine w^as sure to be the 
work of the 'bogie man,' and the more useful it was to the world the 
more bitter the unreasoning opposition to its introduction and use, 
resulting often in popular movements for the destruction of the 
dreaded and hated medicine. 

"In our day the Legislature of a great state passes a bill to 
outlaw the useful department store because some good people discov- 
ered the 'bogie man' in it, and because it was proved beyond all 
doubt or controversy that unless the department store w^as banished 
from the land our liberties would be destroyed and we should be 
reduced to a state of slavery. 

"Mr. James J. Hill has forged and fashioned a weapon or instru- 
ment of commerce of extraordinary scope and efficiency, one that is 
imperatively called for by the growing commerce of the country, and 
one that will give to America an irresistible advantage in the impend- 
ing international contest for supremacy on the great Pacific and for 
control of the rich trade of the Orient. Yet there are many well- 
meaning people in this country, as v^ell as politicians of high and low 
degree, v^ho have been filled v^ith alarm and consternation at the 
sudden and unexpected appearance of this formidable powder, and 
sincerely believe that in it they have discovered the real 'bogie man,' 
who has come at last to overthrow our liberties and reduce us to a 



The "Bogie Man" in Railroading 63 

state of bondage. Fortunately we live in an age of education and 
enlightenment, and before the light of knowledge the 'bogie man' in 
every age fades aw^ay and vanishes like the darkness of night on the 
approach of the rising sun. The real danger to our liberties will not 
be found lurking in the great agencies or instrumentalities of com- 
merce in our day, but rather in the gradual and insidious assumption 
of despotic power over the legitimate business and pursuits of men 
by the Government, proceeding under cover of the groundless fears 
excited in the people by the appearance of these new and unfamiliar 
instrumentalities of commerce. The great transportation system, 
covering land and sea, created and moulded by James J. Hill, instead 
of being a menace will prove to be of incalculable benefit to the 
whole country. It is destined to play as great a part in advancing the 
foreign and domestic commerce of America in the twentieth cen- 
tury as the railroads did in the last half of the nineteenth century 
in opening up and developing the continent from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific. The man w^ho finds and opens up new^ markets for the 
natural and manufactured products of a country, and w^ho provides 
ample and improved facilities of transportation for reaching such 
markets, is no 'bogie man,' but a real benefactor of his kind; for he 
lays the foundation of a broad and lasting prosperity, opens up new 
avenues of employment for men in every calling, smooths the path, 
lightens the burdens and increases the chances of success and happi- 
ness in life for millions of people." 

At the time this speech was delivered, the Government was pro- 
ceeding against the Northern Securities Company, v^^hich had been 
organized by Mr. Hill for the purpose of bringing under one manage- 
ment the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy railroads, thus making a transportation system that could 
reach from the cotton producing states of the South to the lumber 
regions of the Northwest. This organization, being operated in close 
connection with Mr. Hill's steamship line across the Pacific, made a 
transportation system by land and sea of unsurpassed power, 
efficiency and economy. About this time the railways of the country 
had fallen into popular disfavor and the people looked vs^ith suspicion 
and alarm at the growth of the roads. At this juncture the Govern- 
ment stepped in and caused the dissolution of the Northern Securities, 
following up this action w^ith suits against other companies. This is 
the situation that gave rise to the references to the "bogie man" con- 
tained in the last paragraph of Judge Burke's speech. 



CHAPTER SIX 



WHEN THE HILLS WERE BRUSHED ASIDE 



NATURE apparently grew tired before she finished Seattle. She 
made a wonderful harbor, produced an empire of timber suffi- 
cient to make its capital a prosperous community, made a pass 
through the mountains that was a natural avenue of ingress for a 
railway from the East, hung pictures on the horizon so that her 
citizens could live in an atmosphere of perpetual artistic enjoyment, 
spread three lakes among the hills, and gave her a climate that 
blended with the perfection of her physical charms — and then left the 
townsite itself like a tousled, unmade bed. Hills raised themselves 
in the paths that commerce wished to take, and commerce ever moves 
with a breathless haste that makes it balk at taking grades. With 
Yesler's mill as a focal point business worked its way up the lesser 
hills to Second Avenue, crawled northward along First Avenue and 
southward on the same thoroughfare until in each case it came to a 
barrier. As the people came they built their houses on the hills that 
made ridges between the Sound and Lake Washington, and poured 
around the other hills to the level lands in the outlying regions. 
Business tried to follow, but the conditions were a hindrance. 

And then Man stepped in, completed the work which Nature 
left undone, smoothed the barriers, and allowed commerce to pour 
unhampered in its natural channels. 

The story of Seattle's regrades is largely the story of one man's 
dream. Perhaps we would have had great electrical development 
today had Thomas A. Edison never lived; we may have had the 
telephone if there had been no Alexander Graham Bell, the wireless 
without a Marconi, the telegraph without a Morse; but to these men 
the world holds itself indebted for the things they have done. Sim- 
ilarly Seattle may have flattened out her hills if Reginald H. Thomson 
had remained in the East, but, as he did not, to him must be given the 
credit for making over the physical Seattle into a city of present easy 
lines of communication and potential possibilities of becoming one of 
the world's truly great and important cities. So, to tell the story of 
these wonderful regrades, a civic transformation that no other city 
in the world has experienced, we must take up the story of the man 
himself, for as long as there is a Seattle his name must be placed 
high on the list of those who have made her what she is. 

Coming to the Pacific Coast in 1877, Mr. Thomson made the 
acquaintance of T. B. Morris. Mr. Morris was then living at San 

64 




Photoinaiih hii Curtis d Milhr. 

"Nature Huns Pictures on Seattle's Horizon so That Her Citizens Could IJve in an Atmosphere of 

Per|>etual Artistie Enjoyment." 



Planning a Great City ^ 

Rafael, California, but had been the first chief engineer of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad. As such chief he had studied every port 
of the Pacific and had most carefully analyzed the terminal possibili- 
ties of Puget Sound. These possibilities had not been studied simply 
with reference to the waterfront of the particular places, but with 
reference to the hinterland of each. 

After a careful survey of every pass from Eastern Washington 
to the Coast, he coincided with V. G. Bogue in his conclusion that the 
focus or "common point," or final center of gravity, of all transporta- 
tion possibilities between the Columbia River and the 49th parallel of 
latitude was at a point about midway between Tacoma and Seattle; in 
other words, about Auburn. That Auburn could not be made the cen- 
ter of a great city was to Mr. Thomson quite evident, but Mr. Morris 
believed that, in case the Lake Washington Canal was built, Renton 
might become an important center. Owing to its situation near so 
much low-lying ground, impossible of proper drainage, and its dis- 
tance from the sea, Mr. Thomson rejected this idea and decided that 
the city would be at or near either Tacoma or Seattle, mainly depend- 
ent upon just three things: 

First — The relative economy of living and consequent economy 
of manufacture, together with the greatest possible economy in the 
cost of transferring and handling raw materials and other freight 
between the wharves and railroad depots and factory sites. 

Second — The healthfulness, and consequent vitality of the cit- 
izens; and. 

Third — The nature of the harbor and the relative cost or charges 
necessary to be imposed upon shipping, dependent on the cost of final 
development. 

In 1881 Mr. Thomson began working in the vicinity of Seattle. 
His work carried him all over the Sound and far into the adjacent 
mountains. About that time F. H. Whitworth, with whom he asso- 
ciated, indicated Cedar River as the final source of water supply and 
water power for Seattle. A study of its watershed, with its lakes, 
with their suitableness as impounding reservoirs, in comparison with 
conditions existing in other watersheds of the Cascade Mountains, 
showed Mr. Thomson that whatever city secured that river and its 
watershed would secure advantages in cheap water and cheap water 
power not possible to be possessed by any other city on the Coast. 
An abundant supply of pure water is a prime requisite for good 
health, both of itself and on account of its use as a conveyor of 
sewage, and for other uses in connection with sanitation; and cheap 
power is a necessity for successful competition in manufacturing. 



66 The City That Made Itself 

Being satisfied of this, and satisfied that in some way this water- 
shed could and would be secured by the city, he carefully studied the 
harbors of the Sound. He found no other which he believed could be 
so easily or cheaply improved, or which could afford so safe an 
anchorage as Seattle's. 

There then remained the question of economy of living and of 
manufacture. 

Mr. Thomson became City Engineer in 1892, and immediately 
gave his attention to two matters : Cedar River water and the cheap 
transportation referred to. Careful study of the topography of the 
vicinity of Seattle convinced him that extremely radical work must be 
done if Seattle were ever to properly connect with, and that it must 
so connect with its then suburbs, which must soon become part of 
the city itself, and which would become its factory centers. He 
determined that there were four territories which must be connected 
with the heart of the city as being its natural workshop or factory 
grounds. 

First — ^The White River Valley. 

Second — The Rainier Valley. 

Third — The Lake Union Basin. 

Fourth — Interbay and Ballard. 

To open and keep open lines of easy communication between 
the center of the city and these territories became a ruling passion 
with Mr. Thomson, and in season and out of season he seized every 
opportunity to develop the highways leading to these territories 
which his judgment showed him to be necessary. One of the greatest 
difficulties w^as to prevent the erection of permanent structures in the 
way of their extensions. 

The movement which semed likely to be fatal to the usefulness 
of the first territory came when the City Council, against the City 
Engineers most vigorous protest, granted the Great Northern Rail- 
way a franchise, actually blocking First Avenue South and closing all 
streets leading south between First Avenue and Fifth Avenue. So 
strong was his protest that J. J. Hill asked him to put it in writing and 
forward it to him, with maps and profiles. Mr. Hill grasped the situa- 
tion and said that if Mr. Thomson would trust him he would provide 
relief. The engineer gave Mr. Hill his word and Mr. Hill kept his. As 
a result of Mr. Hill's studies of the injury which would accrue to the 
city by reason of cutting off adequate access from the White River Val- 
ley, he built the Fourth Avenue tunnel and changed all his yards to 
north and south, instead of east and west, as first contemplated, and 
finally brought all roads into line. 



Great Regrades Commenced 67 

The Tideland Commission, when formed, laid out fairly 
adequate streets to the south and finally assured Seattle of reasonable 
access to the White River Valley. Fourth Avenue South was almost 
given away to the Harriman lines, but fortunately was saved. 

To reach Lake Union, Westlake Avenue was planned and put 
through, and to secure a proper business area in connection there- 
with, the Denny Hill and Pine and Olive Street regrades were 
planned and executed. 

To reach Rainier Valley, Dearborn Street was secured and cut 
through, and to reach Ballard, Magnolia Way was planned, but up to 
date has been blocked, as a result of which Interbay and Ballard still 
sleep. 

Equal watchfulness w^ith reference to the acquisition of Cedar 
River and Cedar Lake with its vs^atershed w^as maintained, and the 
city's water and pow^er supply followed as the result. It required all 
of the parts to make the whole, and Mr. Thomson did not intend any 
part to be missing. 

All of these things wrere thought out in the rough immediately 
after Mr. Thomson became City Engineer in 1 892, and there was 
never a turning to the right or left from his concept of necessary 
w^ork from that time until he resigned in 1911. The great thought in 
connection with the work possible for him to control was: Connect 
all possible manufacturing centers with the heart of the city by road- 
ways on which freight could be conveyed more quickly and more 
cheaply than could be done anywhere else on the Coast, and give 
abundance of water pow^er to these centers at lowest possible rates. 
The plan is not yet complete, but the trails have been bleized and 
other necessary highwrays w^ill undoubtedly be constructed in time. 

Before the Denny Hill regrade vs^as undertaken Second Avenue 
ran into the hill at Pike Street, successfully checking any ambition 
that business might have of continuing northward on that thorough- 
fare. Third Avenue at Pine also ran into the same hill, and many 
city blocks sat high up in the air. The city had tried its hand at re- 
grading in 1 898, when it smoothed out First Avenue from Pike Street 
to Denny Way, lowering the street level in one place fourteen feet. 
To carry out the Thomson plan of giving the city a level thorough- 
fare to Lake Union and providing an adequate business district trib- 
utary to it was a gigantic undertaking for the city to attempt. As a 
component part of it, it was necessary to start in the south end of the 
city and lower Third, Fourth and Fifth Avenues all the way north 
until they encountered the work on Denny Hill proper. Before the 
whole was completed five million cubic yards of earth had been 
moved by the contractors. There was nothing particularly remark- 



68 The City That Made Itself 

able about the work from an engineering standpoint, but it proved 
decidedly interesting to the people of the city as a spectacle. Day 
and night great streams of water incessantly ate their way into the 
yielding hills, steam shovels chewed immense holes and spit their 
mouthfuls into waiting w^agons, houses stood dizzily on freshly 
created peaks, or moved out of the way of the devouring progress to 
return later and lower themselves to the new levels that w^ere pro- 
vided. The accompanying pictures tell the story better than any pen 
could relate it. 

Some idea of the wonderful change that was wrought in the 
appearance of the city can be obtained from contemplation of the fact 
that at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Blanchard Street the level 
was lowered one hundred and seven feet. At Fifth and Blanchard 
there was a cut of ninety-one feet. In important business centers at 
the time big cuts were made. Third Avenue, at both Madison and 
Spring Streets, was lowered fifteen feet; Fourth at James, 26 feet; 
Fourth at both Cherry and Seneca, 23 feet. Third and Fourth Ave- 
nues were also widened eighteen feet, it being necessary to cut off the 
face of some buildings and move others back. Some of the larger 
brick buildings were allowed to cut off the front of the lower story 
only, leaving the upper stories projecting over the sidevs^alk for a few 
years, after which these projections are to be removed. 

All this was not being done without a great struggle on the part 
of City Engineer Thomson. He was assailed on all sides by a public 
that could not grasp the boldness of his conception nor appreciate the 
comprehensiveness of the work he was doing. But he went ahead, 
pushing his plans through in a manner that show^ed that he completely 
dominated the city government. Every time his term drew^ to an end 
efforts were made to have the Mayor appoint someone else in his 
place, but each chief executive did not seem to be long in office before 
he discovered that Thomson was among the chief assets of the city 
and that his re-appointment was practically imperative. A striking 
example of this w^as given during one of the three terms which T. J. 
Humes served as mayor of Seattle. When Thomson's term expired 
the Great Northern was making a bitter fight on him on account of 
the objection he had to one feature of the railroad's plans. Judge 
Burke, attorney for the road, was doing all he could to prove the fal- 
lacy of Thomson's views and the fight waxed warm. One afternoon 
a politically prominent man came to Judge Burke with the news that 
Thomson's term was about to expire and that if political pressure 
were brought to bear Humes would likely appoint someone else. It 
would have been an easy way to settle the dispute in favor of the 
railroad. 




As a Spectacle the Reg^ratle Work Was a Great Success. 




One of the Pipes That Carried the Jackson Slreet Hill Into Elliott Bay. 



Eight Years of Regrade Work 



69 



"Who do you want for City Engineer, Judge?" concluded the 
politician. 

"Why, Thomson, of course," declared Judge Burke. "He is 
necessary to the city, and at this stage the city cannot get along with- 
out him." 

"But he is fighting you tooth and nail!" exclaimed the politically 
prominent person. 

"Yes, he is," agreed the Judge, "but perhaps he is right; he cer- 
tainly has a right to his views, and, remember, it is the city he is 
fighting for, not himself, and the city can always use a man who 
fights for it." 

The regrades of the down-town streets began in 1903 and con- 
tinued until 191 1. The great Jackson Street regrade was begun on 
April 23, 1907, and completed on February 28, 1910. The Dearborn 
regrade, the third largest undertaken by the city, was begun Septem- 
ber 24, 1 909, and completed September 30, 1912. The Jackson Street 
work consisted of an excavation of 1 ,810,656 cubic yards and an em- 
bankment of 1 ,356,038 cubic yards. The Dearborn improvement was 
an excavation of 1 ,259,836 cubic yards. The greatest cut on Jackson 
Street was eighty-five feet, at the corner of Ninth Avenue South. At 
King Street and Ninth Avenue South there was a cut of eighty-two 
feet. Local improvement assessment districts were organized to 
finance the regrades. 

For those who may want, in permanent form, a statement of the 
work that was done in the re-making of Seattle I present below, in 
tabular form, the record of all the regrade projects planned and car- 
ried through by City Engineer Thomson, with the assistance of A. H. 
Dimmock, who succeeded him as City Engineer when Thomson re- 
signed the position in 191 I. 

Pike St. and E. Pike St Exc. 

Pine St Exc. 

Second Ave Exc. 

Third Ave. et al Exc. 

Westlake Ave Emb. 

Fairview Ave. et al Exc. 

Pine St. et al Emb. 

Fourth Ave. et al Exc. 

Fifth Ave. N Emb. 

Jackson St. et al Exc. 

Emb. 
Western Ave. and Pike PI... Emb. 
Third Ave., Third Ave. Prod. Exc. 

Olive St. et al Emb. 

Ninth Ave. & Ninth Ave. N.Exc. 

Harrison St. et al Exc. 

Twelfth Ave. & 12th Ave. S. Emb. 
Fifth Ave. & Fifth Ave. S..Exc. 

Dexter Ave. et al Exc. 

Dearborn St Exc. 

Jackson St. & 22nd Ave. S...Emb. 

Leary Ave. et al Exc. 

Sixth Ave. et al Exc. 







Began. Completed. 


Cont. Names 


36,479 cu. 


yds. 


6-27-03 


2- 4-04 


C. J. Erickson 


39.808 cu. 


yds. 


8-26-03 


4-11-05 


C. J. Erickson 


603,862 cu. 


yds. 


7-29-03 


5- 4-06 


C. J. Erickson 


92,441 cu. 


yds. 


8- 4-05 


6-28-07 


C. J. Erickson 


32,397 cu. 


yds. 


7-10-07 


2- 2-08 


Hans Pederson 


85,294 cu. 


yds. 


7-10-07 


9- 1-08 


Ottesen & Jensen 


392,121 cu. 


yds. 


7-25-07 


7- 2-09 


Hawley & Lane 


387,168 cu. 


yds. 


6-21-07 


7-31-09 


C. J. Erickson 


24,374 cu. 


yds. 


10- 3-08 


10-24-09 


Grant Smith 


1,810,656 cu. 


yds. 


4-23-07 


2-28-10 


Lewis & Wiley 


1,356,038 cu. 


yds. 








62,992 cu. 


yds. 


12-21-09 


4-20-11 


Paul Steenstrup 


3,104,604 cu. 


yds. 


6-23-08 


6- 9-11 


Rainier Dev. Co. 


173,670 cu. 


yds. 


7-16-08 


7-18-11 


Hawley & Lane 


196,748 cu. 


yds. 


8-22-10 


9-28-11 


P. J. McHugh 


91,708 cu. 


yds. 


12-27-10 


10-31-11 


P. J. McHugh 


306.635 cu. 


yds. 


10- 8-10 


3-10-12 


Erickson Const. Co. 


173,057 cu. 


yds. 


8-12-10 


4- 9-12 


Erickson Const. Co. 


72,441 cu. 


yds. 


6-20-10 


9-30-12 


Olson & Mellen 


1,259,836 cu. 


yds. 


9-24-09 


9-30-12 


Lewis & Wiley 


16,646 cu. 


yds. 


4-19-13 


10-16-13 


Andrew Peterson 


50,417 cu. 


yds. 


6- 3-13 


1-29-14 


W. F. Manney & Co. 


91,255 cu, 


yds. 


5-21-13 


6-15-14 


Ind. Asp. Pav. Co. 



10 The City That Made Itself 

In most instances the earth from the cuts in the regrade dis- 
tricts was used to good advantage in making the necessary fills in ad- 
jacent territory. For instance, the earth from the Jackson and 
Dearborn Street regrade was used to fill in the tide lands. The bulk 
of the earth from the Denny Hill regrade was wasted in the deep 
waters of Elliott Bay. Some of this earth, however, was used to 
raise the levels of the streets in the vicinity of the Westlake mar- 
ket. No extraordinary conditions were encountered in handling 
any of these large undertakings and the work resolved itself into a 
job of perseverance w^ith both steam shovels and hydraulic ap- 
paratus. Any of the large regrades which involved deep cuts 
would not have been practicable if the material encountered had 
been rock. Deep deposits of a sedimentary character are not very 
common and it has been fortunate that the needs of a larger business 
district w^ere not blocked by rock formations such as are usually en- 
countered when the surface is penetrated to a depth of 1 00 feet, as 
was done in several instances in connection with the Seattle re- 
grades. 

From the time the first ordinance providing for public work 
in Seattle v^^as passed by Councilmen Thomas Clancy, John Leary, 
W. W. Barker, George W. Hall, Samuel Kenney, W. N. Bell and 
C. W. Moore and approved by Mayor G. A. Weed, on June 8, I 876, 
Seattle has carried forward an extensive system of improvement 
that makes it one of the best equipped cities in the world today. 
The excellence of its sewerage system is reflected in the health fig- 
ures which places Seattle at the head of all the cities in the world. 
Previous to I 890 the system was rather crude. The first sewer was 
laid in the early days on Yesler Way from Maynard Street to the 
Bay. It was a wooden box affair, and this method of construction 
was followed up to 1 890 when the city voted bonds to provide for 
money for a comprehensive system. It was while the city was en- 
gaged on the first sewer under the new plan that an expression was 
coined which will live as long as any of the men of that day are 
still on earth. The plans called for the digging of the trenches a 
certain depth and the city engineer's office checked up on the con- 
tractor by using a measuring stick of the prescribed length. If 
the stick reached from the bottom of the trench to the street level 
the contractor was carrying out his contract faithfully. After some 
months of work the stick was temporarily used for making other 
measurements and it was discovered that something was wrong. 
Tlie stick was measured and found to be a foot short. 

"Who cut the stick?" was at once asked. The people took 
it up and the papers took it up and "Who cut the stick?" was asked 
with a reiteration that made it famous. It was never answered, but 



Seattle's Extensive Sewage System 71 

among the old timers the expression is still current as an interroga- 
tive simile for the positive statement that "there is a nigger in the 
woodpile." 

The largest sewer system built as a unit, is known as the 
North Trunk Sewer system. This work was divided into five dis- 
tricts, the Green Lake, Lake Union, Lake Washington, Fort Law- 
ton and Central Districts. The first work was begun on the system 
April 22, 1908 and the contract was completed February 21, 1914. 
The main features of the trunk sewer system as far as the con- 
struction was concerned, are the siphons made necessary by the 
Lake Washington Canal, one of which is constructed under the 
canal at Montlake Avenue and the other at Third Avenue West. 
They consist of a shaft on either side of the canal w^ith a connecting 
tunnel of ample size to provide space for two sewer mains, tw^o 
water mains, and two gas mains. Conduits for w^ires were built 
into the walls of this structure. Owing to the treacherous nature 
of the material encountered, the w^ork progressed very slowly and 
at a great cost. The use of compressed air was not resorted to 
and no lives were lost during the progress of the w^ork. A tunnel 
was constructed under the Fort Lawton reserve over a mile in 
length. This work was carried on from both ends and the ac- 
curacy of the surveys was such that upon joining the tw^o bores, 
only a slight but negligible error was discovered. Most of the 
trunk sewers are built of concrete with a brick lining on the lower 
inside portion to resist the scour. The largest diameter reached 
is on the Fort Lawton branch, which is the outlet for the entire 
system, and here the sewer is 1 2 feet in diameter. In order to 
carry the sewer across Washington Park, it w^as necessary to build 
an aqueduct. This structure was built along graceful lines and or- 
namented, to be in keeping w^ith its park surroundings. The Lake 
Washington Boulevard passes beneath it and very few people sus- 
pect, as they pass beneath this structure, that a trunk sew^er is flow^- 
ing overhead. In August, 1914, Seattle had 427.91 miles of sew^ers. 

A public work of great importance to the city is that being 
done by the Port Commission which was created under an enabling 
act passed by the State Legislature in 1911, to provide Seattle's 
harbor with various facilities which the majority of the people seem- 
ed to think were necessary to the continued development of the 
city's maritime interests. On September 5, 1911, the port of Seattle 
district was created, three commissioners were elected and the gen- 
eral plans of harbor development approved. The law under which 
the commissioners were elected provided that at the time of the 
first election the candidate receiving the largest number of votes 
would be elected for three years, the man with the next vote for 



12 The City That Made Itself 

two years and the successful candidate with the smallest vote one 
year. C. E. Remsberg was elected for the one year term, Robert 
Bridges for the two year term and Gen. H. M. Chittenden (U. S. 
Army Engineers, retired) the three year term. In 1912 Mr. Rems- 
berg was elected to succeed himself and in 1913 Robert Bridges 
was returned to office. Spirited fights were made against both 
these candidates. When the board was organized Reginald H. 
Thomson resigned his position as city engineer and became port 
engineer. It was under his directions that the elaborate port plans 
were developed. One of his assistants, Paul Whitman, succeeded 
Mr. Thomson as chief engineer. Capt. O. A. Powell has been con- 
sulting engineer. As the law provides that the secretary of the 
board should be one of its unsalaried members the chief executive 
work falls on the assistant secretary. C. C. Clausen became as- 
sistant secretary when the board was organized and was succeeded 
in 1912 by W. S. Lincoln, who became auditor in January, 1913, 
and was succeeded as assistant secretary by Hamilton Higday. 

On March 5, 1912, the electors of the district at a special 
election authorized the Port Commission to issue and sell $8, 1 00,000 
in general port bonds for immediate progress on six projects, viz. : 

Project Site Improvement Bond Issue 

1 . Smith's Cove — Lumber and Machinery Terminal $ 1 ,000,000 

2. East Waterway — Deep-sea Mdse. Terminal 850,000 

3. Salmon Bay — Fishing Terminal 350,000 

4. Central Waterfront — Fruit and Produce Storage and 

Mosquito Fleet Terminal 750,000 

5. Lake Washington — Additional Ferry System 1 50,000 

6. Harbor Island— Parallel Deep-sea Piers 3,000,000 

7. Harbor Island— Supplemental Piers 2,000,000 

TOTAL $8, 1 00,000 

By the fall of 1914 $4,490,000 of bonds had been sold. 

It was originally planned to develop Harbor Island along the 
lines of the Bush Terminals and an energetic fight was waged be- 
fore the people, the Chamber of Commerce being the chief advocate 
of the adoption of such a plan. It was defeated, however, and the 
building activities of the commission have beeri spread from Sal- 
mon Bay on the north to the East Waterway on the south. By 
vote of the people sums of money originally provided for one 
improvement has been transferred to another and an addition of 
$200,000 was voted for the purchase of the ferry between the 
waterfront and West Seattle. 



A Problem for Time to Solve 73 

It is too early yet to form an estimate of the value to the 
city of the Port Commission work. Time may prove the step 
has been a wise one, although it is not quite apparent yet how the 
people are going to realize on the extensive investments they have 
made in waterfront property for which there was no evidence 
of there being a particularly urgent demand. The appointment 
of F. R. Hanlon as traffic manager in the summer of 1914 was 
made in an effort to secure business for the facilities already pro- 
vided and the energetic manner in which Mr. Hanlon has assumed 
his duties may have a beneficial effect on the financial showing of 
the commission. Time will likely show that a mistake was made 
in defeating the Bush Terminal plan, for extensive development 
along intelligent lines in one portion of the harbor would un- 
doubtedly have been of more benefit to the city than disconnected 
activities stretching over many miles of waterfront. However that 
may be, there is no doubt that with the abandonment of these plans 
the bonds originally passed to meet the expense of developing them 
should have been canceled entirely rather than to have been 
transferred to other projects. 

But it is rather bold of a historian to try to judge of the 
worth of a project that is not yet five years old. I offer these few 
reflections in the hope that they may be of some slight interest to 
readers in future years who will be in a position to judge of the 
part that time has played in determining what claim I may have 
to being a prophet. 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 



HOW SEATTLE SECURED HER WATER SUPPLY 



THE spirit of combat has always been strong in the hearts 
of Seattle people. When danger from the outside menaced 
them they fought shoulder to shoulder in defense of their 
views; when something of a purely domestic nature came up they 
fought with one another before finally deciding how to dispose of 
the subject. One of the most dramatic local fights was that which 
was practically settled on December 1 0th, 1895, when the people ap- 
proved by their votes the plan to secure the city's water from Cedar 
River. Even after the vote was canvassed the fight was carried on in 
the courts and it was not until January 10, 1 901 , that the Cedar River 
water was first distributed in Seattle. Today the water system is 
one of the city's greatest assets and it must always be so for there 
is no other city in the world that can boast a more magnificent sup- 
ply of pure water. Yet, when it was proposed to secure this source 
of supply, a most determined fight against it was waged by thought- 
ful, loyal citizens who were persuaded that Seattle was committing 
a grave blunder in adopting the ordinance presented to the voters. 
It was due to the masterly fighting qualities of Reginald H. Thom- 
son that the fight was won. 

The honor of being the Seattle citizen to first suggest that 
Cedar River should be the ultimate source of supply for Seattle's 
water system belongs to F. H. Whitworth, still a very useful citi- 
zen of Seattle and a man, who in his quiet way, has done much 
to advance the interests of the city. In 1 88 1 , while serving as 
city surveyor, Mr. Whitworth went on record as favoring Cedar 
River. In 1 889, Mayor Robert Moran persuaded the city council 
to employ Benezette Williams, a prominent engineer of Chicago, 
to investigate and report on Cedar River as a source of supply. 
Mr. Williams made his surveys and prepared a report indicating 
Rock Creek, a smaller tributary of Cedar River, as the more ad- 
vantageous source. Mr. Whitworth urged Williams to continue his 
survey up the Cedar River and Williams did this, with the result 
that he withdrew his first report and went on record as favor- 
ing Cedar River. 

He recommended that the city convey the water to Swan Lake 
in an open flume, running pipes underground only where the topo- 
graphy made it necessary. 

74 



i 



Private Company Enters Field y^ 

In 1888 the city had decided by vote of the taxpayers to build 
a system but the plans were checked in 1889 when the Territory 
became a State and the borrowing power of the cities of the first 
class was limited to an extent that Seattle had already exceeded, as 
following the fire of 1889 a tremendous amount of money was 
spent in rebuilding the city. Things were pretty much at a stand- 
still when Mr. Thomson became city engineer in 1892. One of 
the first tasks he undertook was the development of the Cedar 
River water supply. In this he had the enthusiastic support of 
H. R. Clise, chairman of the Fire and Water Committee of the 
Board of Aldermen. The outlook was not reassuring as there 
seemed to be no way of raising the necessary money. One day, in 
course of the routine of his law practice, Mr. Clise was reading the 
reports of the State Supreme Court decisions, and ran across one 
that prompted him to speedily summon Thomson and Will H. Parry, 
then city comptroller, into conference with him. This decision 
upheld the legality of an ordinance passed by the voters of Spokane 
who sought to build a water system with money obtained through 
the sale of warrants, redeemable from the receipts of the water it- 
self. The court held that this was a charge against the system and 
did not increase the bonded indebtedness of the city. Clise, Thom- 
son and Parry agreed that Seattle's opportunity had come, and a 
plan of campaign was at once decided upon. 

Mr. Thomson appointed George F. Cotterill to make a com- 
plete report on the engineering problems involved in the construc- 
tion of the Cedar River system, and work was begun on the prepara- 
tion of an ordinance for submission to the people. No public an- 
nouncement of any kind was made and not a dozen people in 
Seattle knew that any steps were being taken by the city to secure 
Cedar River water for Seattle. The reason for this secrecy was 
the activity of a private company which hoped to develop the same 
source of supply for itself, and sell both water and power to the 
people of the city. This company was organized by Edward H. 
Animidon, who had lately arrived in Seattle from New York. He 
enlisted the support of almost all the financially strong men of the 
city, applied to the City Council for an ordinance granting his com- 
pany a franchise to lay its mains and authorizing the sale to the 
company of all the city's then existing waterworks property. James 
A. James, chairman of the Fire and Water Committee of the House 
of Delegates, had joined the Thomson-Clise-Parry alliance and the 
Ammidon application did not make particularly rapid progress be- 
fore the council, although great pressure was brought to bear in an 
effort to have the city pass the necessary legislation. 



76 The City That Made Itself 

Finally Cotterill's report was ready. Chairman Clise called 
his committee together and read the report which he proposed to 
present to the Council that night. The committee approved the re- 
port, and that evening a joint session of the Board of Aldermen and 
the House of Delegates was held and Mr. Clise read his report 
recommending the construction of the Cedar River water system 
by the city. 

TTie fight was then on. The Ammidon forces were taken com- 
pletely by surprise by this movement. They abandoned that part 
of their proposal relating to the distribution of water by them to 
the consumers in the city and substituted for it an offer to sell the 
city water in bulk at its limits, leaving to the city the task of dis- 
tribution. It so happened that most of the substantial and prom- 
inent citizens either became members of this company or shared 
its views, for the fight developed into one between the "big in- 
terests" of the city and the so-called "common people." Mr. Thom- 
son entered the struggle with the indomitable will that made him 
master of the situation as long as he remained city engineer. With 
the two proposals presented to the city government pressure was 
brought to bear by the champions of each. It was a bitter struggle 
but finally in the summer of 1 895 the ordinance was passed, only 
to be vetoed by Mayor Byron Phelps, who objected to the v^ord- 
ing of one clause. As soon as his veto was handed down Thomson, 
James and Clise started w^ork on a new^ ordinance v^hich conformed 
to the mayor's views and it was passed and signed, and provided 
for an election on December 10, 1 895. 

The fight was then carried to the people and it was waged 
with a fury scarcely equalled in any other campaign that the city 
has experienced. All the prominent moneyed men were arrayed 
against the ordinance and every newspaper in the city sided with 
them. The Post-Intelligencer dubbed the supporters of the ordi- 
nance "crass-headed idiots" and the name stuck to them through- 
out the campaign. There were many good men on both sides of 
the fight but all the money seemed to be on one side. The sup- 
porters of the private company hired halls and held nightly meet- 
ings and their opponents had no comprehensive methods of reach- 
ing the people with their arguments. Mr. Clise, Mr. James, Dr. 
Young and others did their best on behalf of the ordinance, while 
Mr. Thomson sat back and provided them with ammunition. 

Among the broadsides fired at the ordinance through the pa- 
pers was one from Judge John J. McGilvra. It discouraged 
Thomson more than any other argument had done. Judge Mc- 
Gilvra stood high in the community and was known as a man of 





lliciKigraphs, Takrn fn.m liii. ii,;lI|; (h. Saiiu- >ii„( al an liitcnal of Ten Years. Show the 
Planner in Which the Streets in the \t'hole8ale District Were Built up on the Tideflats. 



Judge McGilvra Changes His Mind 77 

impeachable integrity and sound opinion. His argument was the 
most masterly one thus far advanced and if his premises were cor- 
rect it was unanswerable. It appeared about sixty days before the 
election was to take place. 

Mr. Thomson went to the telephone and called up Judge Mc- 
Gilvra. 

"Mr. McGilvra," he said, "this is Thomson. I have just read 
your article in the Post-Intelligencer. It is the most logical arraign- 
ment of our ordinance yet advanced. I want to talk it over with 
you. We are both working for the same end, the good of the city, 
and if after we consult you can show where I am wrong I will write 
a letter to the newspapers advising the people to vote against the 
ordinance and will withdraw from the fight. May I see you today?" 

"Come up at eleven o'clock this morning," said McGilvra. 

For five days the two men discussed the question from every 
standpoint and at the expiration of that time Mr. Thomson, at Judge 
McGilvra's suggestion, prepared a brief. 

"I will also prepare a brief," said McGilvra, "and submit it 
with yours to myself as judge and then will let you know my posi- 
tion." 

"I will do nothing more in the fight then until I hear from you," 
said Thomson. 

Every morning thereafter for five long and restless weeks 
Thomson eagerly scanned the paper but no word came from Mc- 
Gilvra. True to his promise Thomson had withdrawn from the 
fight and provided no more ammunition for the champions of the 
ordinance. Finally, about three weeks before the election, the morn- 
ing paper bore a message in large type to the effect that McGilvra 
had changed his opinion and that he w^as now unequivocally for 
the ordinance. Thomson w^ent to him. 

"What is the next step?" asked McGilvra. 

"I don't know," replied TTiomson. "I have done nothing since 
I saw you last and am ready to take your orders. We have no 
money to carry on a fight such as the other people are making. " 

"Don't let money stand in your way," said McGilvra, "do every- 
thing that is necessary and send the bills to me. " 

McGilvra then organized a number of speakers in favor of the 
ordinance, hired halls and bands and paid for everything out of 
his own pocket. A spirited campaign in favor of the ordinance was 
waged with the result that it carried by a vote of 2,656 in its favor 
to 1 ,665 against it. 



75 The City That Made Itself 

So bitter had been the fight that the morning after the election 
McGilvra met Arthur A. Denny on the street and in spite of the 
fact that for nearly thirty years McGilvra had been the personal at- 
torney for the elder Denny the latter refused to speak to him. 
McGilvra, Thomson and others were assailed by many prominent 
citizens as wreckers of the city. Into the courts the champions of 
the private company carried the matter and it pursued its vv^ay to 
the Supreme Court before the action of the people was finally legal- 
ly ratified and the $1,250,000 which the ordinance provided for be- 
came available for construction. 

I dwell at length upon this fight as it is interesting not only as 
a record of the acquisition by the city of its matchless water supply, 
but is significant as a sidelight on the honest errors men can make, 
for there is not one man today who opposed the ordinance who v^^ill 
not acknowledge that it would have been the grossest folly to have 
defeated it. The growth of the city would have made intolerable 
the contract vsnth the private company had it been accepted and it 
would have forever prevented the city from enjoying the full bene- 
fit which its abundance of water and cheap power give it today. 

The greatest service w^hich Reginald H. Thomson performed 
in relation to the water supply of the City of Seattle was his re- 
lentless, unceasing struggle for the maintenance of its purity. That 
Seattle is today the healthiest city in the world is due primarily to 
the excellence of her water. Long before he became city engineer 
Mr. TTiomson realized that of equal importance to securing Cedar 
River and Lake as a source of supply was the acquiring of suffi- 
cient land in the watershed to provide for all time against any con- 
tamination of the water itself. At times when it v^^as charged that 
his activities vs'ere the outgrovsrth of an unpractical dream, he urged 
the purchase of lands in the watershed. In season and out of sea- 
son, the relentless pursuit of the idea went on and that today Se- 
attle owns eighty thousand acres of land, which gives it control of 
the basin in v^^hich its water supply lies, is due solely to the fore- 
sight, determination and perseverance of Mr. Thomson. He has 
saved the city the many millions of dollars it would ultimately 
have had to spend, an expense all other great cities of the world 
have had to meet to keep their v^^ater pure. As other cities have 
grown they have been compelled to spend immense sums to ac- 
quire lands tributary to the water supply, a contingent overlook- 
ed at the time the source of supply was obtained. When Seattle 
was little more than a village Thomson saw that the time would 
come when it would number millions and all the work he did for 
its water supply was predicated on that belief. He built the founda- 



Some Early Water Systems 



tion so well that never in the history of Seattle can its water supply 
give any concern. 

But for a svirviving relic here and there, the {nresent water 

svstem of Seattle gives the newer citizen little understanding of the 
primitive facilities that obtained in the early days of the cit>-"s de- 
velopment. Yet, in those times it was no question of scarcity of 
water. The site of the cit\- fairly teemed with springs of pure, 
sparkling water. But they were spread over an extended area and 
the question of conveying the visible supply, as the settlement grew, 
created a problem the citizens with limited means and no over- 
land transportation facilities could v.-ith difBcult>' overcome. 

The battle for the conquest of nature's gifts, which has today 
reached such perfect consumation. ■was begun with the installation 
of the first water system by Hemy L. ^ esler. It consisted in the 
building of a ver>- small tank just north of ^ esler Way, between 
Third and Fourth .Avenues. The water was conducted to \ esler's 
mill at the foot of the street in an open trough, which was later 
replaced by a wooden pipe made from boring I 2-tnch logs in six-foot 
lengths and connecting them with wooden spigots to hold them to- 
gether. Tliis system was also used to furnish water power for 
W'oodin's tannen.'. which then stood on the site of the present Pre- 
fontaine Building. It was with this supply that the first sluicing of 
earth by water was done. The water >vas obtained from a stream 
of some size that originated in a depression at a point near Elighth 
.Avenue and Madison Street, extending south down Fourth Avenue 
and ^ esler W ay and thence continuing down to the tide flats. 

Later Yesler built a small box in the creek at the comer of 
Seventh Avenue and Cherrv" Street and conveyed water to two 
tanks, about 20 by 40 feet in size, on the south side of James Street, 
between Fifth and Sixth .Avenues. He also had another source of 
supply at Seventh .Avenue and Columbia Street. This was called 
the Lo\sTnan Spring. The spring at the comer of Seventh and Cher- 
r>- is still flo%\-ing through a three-fourths inch pipe and in emer- 
gencies during the past few years the residents in that vicinity* have 
secured their supply of -water from it. In 1911. v.-hen Cedar River 
supply was temporarily cut off, this water was anal>"zed and found 
pure. There is now a drinking fountain at this point. 

Gradually the available sources of \\-ater supply came to be 
utilized. James McNaught constructed a system covering the ter- 
ritory- between Sixth and Elighth .Avenues South and Lane and Dear- 
bom Streets. This system supplied about 1 00 homes but was taken 
over some years later by the Spring Hill Water Co. and discon- 
nected from its source. \X . I. W adleigh also had a small system 



80 The City That Made Itself 

at Fifth Avenue and Columbia Street. The water system provided 
for the University and the old Denny home was supplied by a spring 
at about Sixth Avenue and University Street. The first supply 
pipes used were constructed by the Rev. Daniel Bagley, vs^ho took 
logs and bored them with hand augers from 1 '/2 to 2 inches in 
diameter. In the University district about 2,000 feet of this sort 
of pipe was installed. 

The Denny-McCombs water system was built by James Mc- 
Combs, who drove a pipe horizontally into the hill for a distance 
of 1 50 feet at Ninth Avenue and Union Street and secured an 
ample supply of water for the people in that vicinity. Here bored 
wooden pipes v^^ere also used at first. 

TTie Coppin system, which secured its supply from a deep 
well on the block just south of the present Catholic cathedral, took 
care of 300 houses. This system was purchased in 1 899 from Dex- 
ter Horton & Co. by the city for a consideration of $200. 

One of the largest of the old plants w^as that of the Union 
Water System, which was incorporated in February, 1 882, by D. T. 
Denny, Edgar Bryan, Walter Graham, Samuel T. Milham, James 
McCombs and William T. Graham. This concern secured its sup- 
ply from springs near Fourth Avenue North and Ward Street, the 
present location of the Queen Anne pumping station. The spring 
supplied only 80,000 gallons per day and since this was not enough 
a well was sunk to a distance of 348 feet at the top of Queen Anne 
Hill. It supplied the territory to the south of the hill as far as Bat- 
tery Street. This system was purchased by the city in 1 89 1 . 

The Griffith system, built by L. H. Griffith in 1 888, had its 
source on the north side of Queen Anne Hill and furnished water 
for the largest part of Fremont. Its right of way was condemned 
for the Lake Washington Canal in 1 897 and city v^ater took its 
place. 

The Kinnear system was installed in 1 888 and supplied all of 
G. Kinnear's Supplemental Addition. It is still in operation and 
provides the stream for an ornamental fountain on the lawn of the 
Kinnear residence on Queen Anne Avenue. TTie water has been 
analyzed many times and has alw^ays shov^^n the highest percentage 
of purity. Two other extensive systems were the Nils B. Peterson 
system built in 1 890, covering the territory on the southv^^est slope 
of Queen Anne Hill known as the Crow^n Addition, and adjacent 
territory. Another Peterson system was installed on the north slope 
of this hill by another person of the same name. 

In the suburban territory of Seattle were systems which began 
operations subsequent to the year 1 890. All of them were either 




ProgrreSB That Three Deeades Huve VVitneesed. 



Spring Hill Water Company 81 

purchased by the city within the past decade or were donated 
or abandoned. In 1907 the city acquired the Ballard system, in 
1908, the Homeseekers' system; in 1908, the Rainier Valley sys- 
tem and the Columbia system, in 1910a part of the Georgetown 
system and the Fairmount system in West Seattle, as well as the 
Euclid Heights system in the latter district in 1912. During the 
years 1900 to 1913 the South Seattle, Kenyon Street, Union Trust 
Company, Lake Washington Mill, Nils Peterson, Northern Pacific 
and Great Northern, the York and Montana Additions w^ere either 
acquired by the city free of charge or abandoned by the ow^ners. 
Another suburban system, the last of those displaced, was that of 
the West Seattle Land & Improvement Co., which owned a spring 
in a gulch on the north end slope of the West Side peninsula. This 
system supplied the entire north end of that district from about 
1883 until 1911. 

But the largest of all the early systems was that of the Spring 
Hill Water Co. This concern w^as incorporated on August 20, 1881, 
w^ith a capital of $25,000, the trustees being Louis Sohns, T. H. 
Cann, Amasa S. Miller, T. Hanford, Louis R. Sohns and J. R. 
Lewis. It secured its first supply from the w^est slope of First Hill, 
erecting various tanks tow^ard the south end of the city. These 
tanks v/ere square wooden ones. A few^ of the smaller systems v^ere 
purchased, among them the McNaught and Yesler systems. The 
company built the Lake Washington pumping station and the 
Beacon Hill reservoir in 1 886. The reservoir occupied a whole 
block between 1 3th and 1 4th Avenues South and Holgate and 
Plum Streets, at an elevation of 31 2 feet. Its capacity was 4,280,000 
gallons. The water was pumped into it from Lake Washington 
through a 1 2-inch kalemein force pipe. The pumping station was 
at the foot of Holgate Street on the lake. It was in connection 
with the operations of this company that the city passed its first 
ordinance specifying water rates and defining obligations and duties 
of the water company and granting privilege to lay water mains 
along certain streets. This ordinance. No. 253, was signed in No- 
vember, 1881 bv John Collins, acting mayor. The Spring Hill 
system in the following year passed into the hands of John Leary 
and associates. The company, by another ordinance, w^as given the 
right to lay mains over all streets and alleys in the city. The same 
privileges were extended to the other companies. 

The Spring Hill Water system was purchased by the city in 
January, 1890 for a consideration of $352,265.67. To bind the bar- 
gain a cash payment of $2,265.67 was made and the balance was 
paid after the sale of the $845,000.00 bond issue, authorized by 
the electors on June 4, 1890, had been effected. The vote stood 



82 The City That Made Itself 

705 for and 1 6 against these bonds, which, while small, indicated 
a practically unanimous desire for a unified and city-owned system 
that should afford better fire protection and a continuous supply of 
water. TTie final payment for this system w^as made on October 
31, 1890. On August 15, 1891, the Union Water Company sys- 
tem was also purchased from the proceeds of these bonds. When 
this plant had been paid for it cost the city $28,300. The balance 
of the money available was used for betterments and extensions in 
the pumping and distribution systems. Pumps were immediately 
purchased and added to the station on Lake Washington which 
brought the daily capacity up to 4,500,000 gallons. 

In a letter to the Council on August 11,1 890, Chief Engineer 
Benzette Williams, describing what had thus far been done, called 
attention to the fact that the pumping system thus contemplated 
would be but a makeshift, barely sufficient to supply the low serv- 
ice district for about two years. He declared there was no alterna- 
tive consistent with the safety of the city but to enter at an early 
date upon the buildinq; of the Cedar River works as proposed, or to 
definitely abandon this plan and begin the construction of entirely 
nev^r w^orks, force mains and reservoirs to supply fully both the high 
and low^ service districts from Lake Washington. 

He made it clear that the city had to decide upon one or the 
other and the subsequent years have proved that the decision in 
favor of the gravitv system was the wise one. In the meantime, 
how^ever, the installation of additional pumns at the lake had in- 
creased the daily capacity to 10,000,000 gallons. TTiis important 
development in the citv water system took place durine the ad- 
ministration of Mavor Robert Moran. who was elected in 1 888. As 
a member of the City Council in 1 887 he became thoroughly famil- 
iar with w^ater supply and fire protection needs of the city and 
when he took the mayor's chair he immediately urged public own- 
ership of the water supply and the construction of the gravity 
system from Cedar River. 

However, in 1892, a second bond issue was authorized by a 
three-fifths vote to the amount of $205,000 to cover additions to 
the pumping system then in existence. 

On December 27, 1895, the Mayor signed the ordinance which 
authorized the condemnation of the right-of-way for the Cedar 
River water supply system and marked the beginning of the pres- 
ent system. 

The final plans and specifications for the construction of the 
Cedar River supply system were prepared and the work carried out 
under the supervision of City Engineer R. H. Thomson. Henry 



Building Cedar River System 83 

W. Scott, his first assistant, had general charge of the field work, 
especially supervising the construction of bridges and the wooden 
barrel-stove pipe. E. W. Cummings w^as intrusted w^ith the super- 
vision of the construction of the diverting weir and setting basin 
at Landsburg. Steel-pipe construction was handled by Col. M. W. 
Glenn, and the Volunteer Park and Lincoln Park reservoirs by 
Andrev^f Jackson and Geo. N. Alexander respectively. 

L. B. Youngs who was then Water Superintendent, and who 
has held that position continuously ever since in a most remark- 
ably efficient manner, and F. N. Little, Superintendent of Streets, 
w^ere alw^ays on hand w^hen tests were being made, to see that 
nothing vs^as overlooked. 

The contract was let on April 1 9, 1 899, in tw^o parts, one 
for headworks, dam and pipe line, the other for Lincoln Park and 
Volunteer Park reservoirs, with a standpipe on Queen Anne Hill. 
The former v^^ork vs^as done by the Pacific Bridge Co., the latter by 
Smith, Wakefield & David. The entire fund available, $1,250,000, 
was consumed in the contract and the purchase of lands. The pipe 
line was finished and w^ent into commission on January, 1 90 1 . 
Soon after its completion it was apparent that it could not be suffi- 
cient for a very long period owing to the rapid growth of the city. 
In 1 907, the pipe line No. 1 , as it is called, although supplying 
more than twenty-two million gallons per day, barely delivered 
enough water to meet the summer needs of the city and the popu- 
lation vk^as grov^ing in literal leaps and bounds. 

In March, 1908, bonds to the amount of $2,250,000 were 
voted for the building of pipe line No. 2. Such rapid progress v^as 
made after the letting of the contract for the construction of this 
line that on June 21, I 909, water was delivered into the Volunteer 
Park reservoir by the new^ pipe line. 

At the present these tw^o pipe lines have a combined deliver- 
ing capacity of 66,000,000 gallons per day. Already the need is 
felt for a third aqueduct and expansion of the system; to keep pace 
with the grow^th of the city is one of the necessities of the near 
future. But there is the comfortable assurance back of it all that 
no matter how many millions of people ultimately come to Seattle 
to live there will always be more water in Cedar Lake than they can 
ever use. ■ 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 



SIXTY YEARS' STRUGGLE FOR LAKE CANAL 



ON the Fourth of July, 1855, a goodly portion of Seattle's 
population tramped out to Lake Union — then without a 
name — and held a patriotic picnic. Oratory was inevitable 
and among those who indulged in it was Thomas Mercer. In the 
course of his speech he suggested that the little lake, lying as it 
did between the salt water on the west and the fresh water of the 
greater lake on the east, should be called Lake Union; and what, 
he asked, could be a more fitting name for the larger lake than 
that of the father of the country, the man whose name would go 
thundering down the ages as one of the greatest patriots of all 
time — Washington? With thunderous applause both names were 
approved. 

But Mercer was not yet through. He painted a picture of a 
great city that would rise on the site of the then small village; he 
predicted a canal that would enable the fleets of the world to ride 
at anchor in Lake Washington. 

That dream is coming true. In July, 191 5 — sixty years per- 
haps to a day after Mercer made his prediction — the canal will be 
opened to traffic. It will work the final accomplishment of what 
Seattle has always fought for, for not for one instant since Mercer 
made his speech has Seattle relinquished the idea that the canal must 
come. It, too, will be the concluding chapter of Seattle's early fight- 
ing history, for it will be the last of the great things for which she 
has fought for the decades that to her are as the centuries in the 
lives of old-w^orld cities. 

Seattle has not only always wanted the canal, but several times 
she commenced to build it herself. In 1860 Harvey Pike (after 
whom Pike Street was named) went at it personally with a pick 
and shovel but did not get very far as he found it rather a large 
job to tackle alone. In 1871 the Lake Washington Canal Associa- 
tion was organized but it made no progress in a physical w^ay. In 
1 880 the Lake Washington Improvement Company did the first ac- 
tual work of any magnitude. David T. Denny, George Kinnear, 
Dr. H. B. Bagley, Thomas Burke and E. M. Smithers were leaders 
in this movement. They raised money among themselves and 
started to open a channel from Lake Union to Salmon Bay. They 
removed many yards of earth and opened quite a ditch, raising high 
Seattle's hopes of the speedy completion of the work. It was not 

84 



Several Routes Suggested 85 

until 1 885 that a beginning was made on the canal between Lake 
Union and Lake Washington. At that time Frank H. Osgood join- 
ed the board of directors and took a contract to establish a navig- 
able channel. The purpose of the company at this time was to 
bring the produce of the farms on the east side of Lake Washington 
to the center of the city by connecting with the street cars which 
then ran to the foot of Lake Union. Mr. Osgood had practically 
completed the contract when work was begun on the Seattle, Lake 
Shore & Eastern Railroad which would serve the same territory, 
so work on the canal ceased. The organization of the company re- 
mained intact until the county, in order to satisfy the demands of 
the Federal Government, set about acquiring the right of way for 
the canal. All the stock in the company was made over to the 
county, thus assisting in clearing up the title to the right of way. 

Although all the early surveys by United States Army and 
other engineers declared the route that is now being followed by the 
canal the most feasible and the natural one there were many cham- 
pions of other routes. One proposal was to dig the canal through 
from the foot of Pike Street to Lake Union; another to run it 
through from about the foot of Battery Street to Lake Union 
and a third, to connect the waters of Smith's Cove with those of 
Salmon Bay by following the low land lying between these points. 
The proposal that made the greatest headway was that to construct 
the canal straight through Beacon Hill from the tide flats, using the 
earth to fill in the great stretch in the south end of the city that 
was then under water when the tide was full. Their proposal 
stirred up a controversy that was w^aged for some years with great 
vigor. 

Even as far back as 1853 the feasibility of a canal from salt 
water to Lake Washington w^as discussed. General George B. Mc- 
Clellan, U. S. A., having examined into and endorsed the project. 
Mercer infused some life into it but it was not until 1 867 that any 
official attention was again paid to it. Major George H. Elliot and 
Capt. C. W. Raymond going on record as favoring it in that year. 
In 1884, Capt. Chas. F. Powell, U. S. Engineers; in 1895, General 
Nelson A. Miles and General John Pope, and in 1892, General 
John Gibbons all reported that they thought the Government would 
be justified in undertaking the work. 

In 1891 the Government again investigated the project. Colonel 
G. H. Mendell, Major Thomas H. Handbury and Capt. Thos. W. 
Symons being appointed by the President to go thoroughly into the 
matter. They suggested a feasible route via Shilshole Bay at an 
estimated cost of $2,900,000 or via Smith's Cove at an estimated 
cost of $3,500,000. They apparently made no investigation of 



86 The City That Made Itself 

any southern route for it was not mentioned in their report of the 
work. The Ballard, or Shilshole route was recommended. 

The report cheered Seattle. Every pressure was brought to 
bear on Congress to appropriate sufficient money to commence the 
work. The proposition became a political issue and John H. Mc- 
Graw was elected Governor in 1 892 on the "Build the Canal" plat- 
form. So intense was the feeling at that time that it led to an out- 
burst at a banquet so startling in its unexpectedness and volume 
as to astonish the Vice-President of the United States and provide 
him with a good story to relate for the rest of his days. 

Adali Stevenson, then vice-president, came with a party to 
Seattle shortly after the McGraw election and when the canal 
project was still the main topic of conversation. The usual ban- 
quet was tendered to the distinguished guests, one of whom. Judge 
S. P. Shope, of the Illinois Supreme Court, spent the afternoon 
preceding it at Lake Washington. In the course of his speech at the 
banquet the Judge turned to the Vice-President and said: 

"Had you come with me today you would have been enchanted 
with a wonderful lake with crystal waters as pure as they flowed 
from the hand of God; you would have seen a great, deep, inland 
sea, vast enough to float a fleet of ships, and when this lake 
shall be united with the ocean — " 

That was as far as the orator got. Up to that time the ban- 
quet had been of the usual quiet, dignified kind that befitted the 
prominence of the guests, and the applause had been confined to 
discrete handclapping. The mention of the union of Lake Wash- 
ington and the ocean, however, was as a match touched to a maga- 
zine; the banquet fairly exploded. With a suddenness that quite 
terrified the orator every man jumped to his feet and commenced to 
cheer wildly. Judge Shope had no idea what he had said to cause 
such an uproar and looked appealingly at Mr. Stevenson, but the 
guest of honor was equally bewildered, and it was not until quiet 
had been restored that the truth was discovered. TTie other speak- 
ers carefuly avoided reference to the canal for the rest of the even- 
ing. 

But the enthusiasm did not reach the national capital with suf- 
ficient force to move it to undertake construction. As an alterna- 
tive proposition the plan of running the canal straight through the 
hills in the southern part of the city v^as suggested. To follow 
this movement we have to go back to 1 867 when Cornelius H. Han- 
ford was a youth "riding the mail" from Seattle to Puyallup. 

On every trip young Hanford skirted the shores of Elliott 
Bay; on one side was Beacon Hill, on the other the extensive tide- 



Eugene Semple Comes to Seattle 87 

flats. Into the young man's head came the idea that it would be a 
good thing to sluice the earth from the hill into the bay to build 
up a great basin of level land that could be the future home of fac- 
tories. Why not push the sluicing right through to Lake Wash- 
ington, get enough earth to redeem thousands of acres of sub- 
merged land and open to commerce the great timber resources of 
the lake? was the next stage of the youth's dream. The idea took 
possession of him and he urged it upon everyone who would give 
him a hearing. 

In 1 868 Hanford lost his mail contract and the next step in 
his efforts to support himself, took him to Portland, where he went 
to sell Seattle town lots. In order to induce purchasers to invest 
with him it was necessary to impress them with the coming great- 
ness of Seattle and as part of the picture he painted was the filled- 
in tide lands and the canal through Beacon Hill. One of those to 
whom he talked was Eugene Semple, who was at that time running 
a paper in Portland. Hanford's eloquence was persuasive and 
Semple was interested. 

Eugene Semple moved to Vancouver, Washington, early in 
the eighties and was engaged in the lumbering business there in 
1 886 when President Grover Cleveland appointed him Governor 
of the Territory of Washington, and his administration of two years' 
duration was marked with great success. In the first election for 
governor of the state Semple was the Democratic candidate against 
Elisha P. Ferry, Republican, who had previously served two terms 
as Territorial Governor and shown himself to be an executive of 
integrity and of unusual ability. At that time the state was strong- 
ly Republican and Ferry was elected. In 1 890 Governor Semple 
came to Seattle and entered the real estate business. In 1891 he 
was appointed by Governor Ferry as a member of the Harbor Line 
Commission. The other members of the Commission were W. F. 
Prosser, then of North Yakima, but later a prominent Seattle citi- 
zen; H. G. Garrettson, Tacoma; G. C. Guernsey, Dayton, and 
Frank H. Richards, Seattle. The work of this body was prescribed 
in a law approved March 28, 1 890 ; it was to determine the meander 
line and harbor line in the navigable waters of the state that lay 
before incorporated cities or w^ithin one mile of them. Every har- 
bor in the state was surveyed and the inner and outer harbor lines 
determined. The board, in making its report, held that all the 
land that was uncovered when the tide v^ent out belonged to the 
state, a contention that was strongly combated by private inter- 
ests which already occupied some of the land affected. The supreme 
court decided all such litigation in favor of the state. 



££ The City That Made Itself 

It was while engaged in this work that Semple became per- 
suaded that Seattle's future lay in her tideflats; he saw some fifteen 
hundred acres of what could not be termed either land or water — 
which was covered when the tide was in and was a stretch of mud 
when the tide was out. If that space could be filled so as to provide 
level land, he thought, Seattle would have a matchless location for 
industries and wholesale houses. At that time the tide came to 
what would be "uptown" today. Whenever he looked at the tide 
lands he saw Beacon Hill stretching upward from their eastern 
shore. The conversation with Hanford years before in Portland 
occurred to him. Why not the cherished canal and filled-in lands 
at one and the same operation? 

Governor Semple went to work. Legislation was necessary, 
and in 1893 the Legislature passed an act which was especially de- 
signed to meet the case of Seattle, although it was general in its 
provisions. This law authorized any person or company to exca- 
vate waterways through the tide and shore lands belonging to the 
state, and with the material to fill in above high tide any tide and 
shore lines in front of incorporated cities, or within one mile of 
them. To reimburse the person or company performing the work 
a first lien upon all such lands as they filled in for the cost of the 
work and fifteen per cent additional, was provided for. All water- 
ways so excavated were to be free except where locks or tide gates 
were necessary, when a reasonable toll might be charged. 

This bill was not hastily considered or passed. It was in I 890 
that Governor Semple first formulated his plans. They were sub- 
mitted to prominent engineers for opinions regarding their phys- 
ical features and to prominent business firms and individuals for 
review as to their financial practicability, and everywhere received 
the warmest endorsement. At the time the law was passed John 
H. McGraw was governor. He realized the importance of the act 
and went to extraordinary care in instituting an investigation inde- 
pendent of that made by Semple, but was satisfied upon all points 
and signed the act. 

Under the law Eugene Semple applied for a contract to fill the 
Seattle lands. Again were his plans submitted to the most careful 
scrutiny. For just one year Governor McGraw continued his ex- 
haustive inquiries and on October 27, 1894, approved the contract. 
Earlier in the same year Andrew Hemrich, W. J. Grambs, E. F. 
Sweeney, F. Kirschner, George F. Gund, R. R. Spencer and D. N. 
Baxter had addressed a letter to the Chamber of Commerce, stating 
that in their opinion there was no immediate prospect of the Gov- 
ernment building the canal and suggesting the organization of a 



I 



Waterways Company Organized 89 

local company to do the work. TTiey suggested that such a work 
would tend to relieve the industrial depression existing at the time. 
As soon as Semple read the letter in the papers he went to Andrew 
Hemrich and laid his plans before him, agreeing to turn over the 
contract, when he secured it, to a company if one w^ere organized. 

As a result of this conference the Seattle & Lake Washington 
Waterway Company was organized on June 22, 1 894, with the fol- 
lowing directors: 

Elisha P. Ferry, Eugene Semple, David E. Durie, Andrew 
Hemrich, Julius F. Hale, Edward F. Sweeney, Albro Gardner, 
James B. Metcalfe, George Fowler, John G. Scurry, Albert D. 
Eshelman, George W. Young, Griffith Davies, D. A. McKenzie, 
Edward F. Wittier, Charles Armstrong, Myer Gottstein, U. R. 
Niesz, Charles H. Frye and Thomas E. Jones. Mr. Ferry was 
elected president and Mr. Semple vice-president. 

Even with this strong company back of Governor Semple's 
plans Governor McGraw was not satisfied until he was assured that 
it could finance the undertaking. This was done and the contract 
was signed. The next step was the sending of a committee com- 
posed of Messrs. Semple, Durie and Hale to St. Louis to interview 
the capitalists whom Semple had previously interested in the pro- 
ject. Edgar Ames, Henry Semple Ames, nephews of Eugene 
Semple, and George M. Paschall assisted this committee in making 
a contract w^ith the Mississippi Valley Trust Company, a strong St. 
Louis corporation, to become trustee of a mortgage to secure the 
issue of bonds provided a committee from the trust company ap- 
proved the plans after going into them on the ground. 

On February 14, 1895, this committee, composed, among 
others, of Julius S. Walsh, president of the trust company; Judge 
Boyle, its attorney; Colonel Henry Flad, one of the foremost engi- 
neers in America, and Edgar Ames, arrived in Seattle. They were 
not here long before they w^ere impressed with the enthusiasm of 
the local people. The city was decorated in their honor and when- 
ever one of them appeared on the street he was follow^ed by a crowd 
of people w^ho wanted to know if the money would be forthcoming. 
A thorough investigation was made and after the return of its rep- 
resentatives to St. Louis the company announced that it v^as ready 
to back the project if Seattle w^ould raise a subsidy of $500,000, to 
be paid when the canal was opened to traffic. 

In a v^ronderfully enthusiastic manner Seattle took hold of the 
subsidy matter. Four thousand people attended a meeting in the 
Armory, which was addressed by E. O. Graves, president of the 
Chamber of Commerce; E. C. Hughes, Judge C. H. Hanford, Judge 



90 



The City That Made Itself 



Wm. H. White, Judge Orange Jacobs, Mayor Byron Phelps and 
others. A committee, composed of Jacob Furth, E. O. Graves, W 
D. Wood, I. A. Nadeau, C. J. Smith, F. D. Black and S. L. Craw- 
ford was appointed to raise the money, and $100,000 was sub- 
scribed forthwith. Extraordinary enthusiasm was displayed 
throughout the city, the papers were full of it, and in less than a 
week 2,488 people had pledged themselves to pay $549,923. A 
committee appraised the list and later reported $511,542.50 as 
safely collectable. 

It is interesting to glance over the list of subscribers 
contributing $1,000 or more were the following: 

R. Abrams $2,000 Estate of G. Morris Haller 

A.C.Anderson 1.000 Granville O. Haller 

J. A. Baillargeon & Co 1 .000 H. H. Hamlin 

Frank D. Black 2,000 C. H. Hanford 

F. T. Blunck 1.000 Frank Hanford 

H. G. Bond 1,000 John W. Hanna 

W. P. Boyd & Co 1.000 Albert Hansen 

Henry Boyle 1.000 Andrew Hemrich 

D. C. Brawley 5,000 John Hemrich, Jr 

A. M. Brookes 1,000 John Hemrich, Sr 

Amos Brown 3,000 H. C. Henry . 

John Bums 1.000 Alice S. Hill 

John Campbell 1 .000 Julius and Annie E. Horton 

William Campbell 1 .000 D. K. Howard 

John C. and Mary S. Card 1,000 D. B. Jackson 

M. L. Cavanaugh 1,000 



Herman Chapin 1,000 

Clinto Stone & Coal Co., Ltd 1 ,000 

John Collins 5,000 

Geo. F. and Cora R. Cotterill.... 1,000 

Crawford & Conover 1 ,000 

B. F. Day 2,000 

Dexter Horton & Co 2,500 

Dexter Horton & Co.. Trustee.... 20,000 

Geo. A. and F. T. Duchame.... 2,000 

David E. Durie 2,500 

W. F. Epler 1,000 

Elisha P. Ferry 1,000 

First National Bank 2,500 

Fischer Bros 1,000 

Frauenthal Bros 1,000 

J. M. Frink 1,000 

Frye-Bruhn Co 1,650 

Henry Furhman 2,500 

Jacob Furth 2,200 

Gatzert-Schwabacher Land Co.... 1 ,500 

Guarantee Loan & Trust Co 1,500 

Mary V. Hall 1,000 

Hall & Paulson Furniture Co 1,000 



David and Anna L. Kellogg 

Jessie Kenney 

George and Angie C. Kinnear.... 

J. R. and Rebecca Kinnear 

Kirkland Land & Improvement Co 

F. Kirschner 

John Leary 

Lewis Bros 

Howard H. Lewis 

Louch Augustine & Co 

Lowman & Hanford Stationery & 

Printing Company 

J. D. Lowman 

Macdougall & Southwick Co 

M. R. Maddocks 

D. A. McKenzie 

McNaught Land & Inv. Co 

J. F. McNaught 

Merchants' National Bank 

National Bank of Commerce 

Newell Milling & Mfg. Co 

Pacific Meat Co 

Isaac Parker 

People's Savings Bank 



Those 

$2,000 
1,000 
3,000 
1,000 
1,000 
1.000 
1,000 
5,000 
2,000 
2,000 
1.250 
1.000 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
2,000 
1,250 
6,300 
1,500 
6,400 
2,000 
5,000 
1.000 
1,000 
1.000 

1,000 
2,200 
1,000 
1,000 
1,000 
2,500 
2.500 
2,500 
2.500 
1,000 
1,000 
2.000 
1.500 



McGilvra and Burke Aloof 91 



Nellie Phinney $2,500 S. G. Simpson $1,000 

Police Relief Association 1,000 Samuel Sloan 1.250 

Margaret J. Pontius 1,250 South Park Land & Imp. Co 1.000 

Portland Cracker Co 1 .000 South Seattle Land Co 1 .000 

Puget Sound National Bank 3.000 Watson C. Squire 2,000 

Reliance Loan & Trust Co 1 .800 Stetson & Post Mill Co 1 ,000 

William B. Robertson 1.000 Stewart & Holmes Drug Co 1.000 

Sackman-Phillips Investment Co.. 5.000 John Sullivan 1.000 

Fred E. Sander 5.000 E. F. Sweeney 1,000 

R. Sartori 1,000 J. L. Taylor 1,000 

Scandinavian American Bank 1,000 Charles T. Terry 1,000 

Schwabacher Bros. & Co., Inc.... 1,000 Ed. L. Terry 1,000 

John G. Scurry 1,000 Union Electric Co 2,000 

Seattle Brick & Tile Co 1,000 J. W. Van Brocklin 1,000 

Seattle Gas & Electric Light Co.. 1 .000 A. T. Van de Vanter 1 .000 

Seattle Brewing & Malting Co.... 10.000 Wa Chong Co 1,200 

Seattle Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Cyrus Walker 1,000 

Company 3,000 M. E. Webster 1,500 

Seattle Hardware Co 3.500 Charles A. White 1.200 

Seattle National Bank 1.650 E. F. Wittier 1.000 

Eugene Semple 5,000 Wm. D. Wood 1,500 

Sidney Sewer Pipe & Terra J. H. Woollery 1,000 

Cotta Works 2.500 George W. Young 1.000 

In view of what happened later it is interesting to note that the 
name of neither Judge John J. McGilvra nor Judge Thomas Burke 
appears among the list of subscribers, and there were no more public- 
spirited citizens in Seattle at the time than they. McGilvra had been 
invited to subscribe and, in declining, wrote the committee a letter 
that left no question regarding his views. In course of the letter he 
said: 

"But the worst and most damaging feature of the South Seattle 
tideflats and canal scheme is its purpose to defeat the construction of 
the Government canal. 

"It is now within our easy reach to secure the construction of the 
Government canal, and in my opinion it is an act of insane folly to 
abandon that certainty for the elusive phantom which your South 
Seattle scheme presents. 

"I may add that the form and substance of your subscription 
pledges and the characters of most of the subscriptions thus far ob- 
tained clearly indicate an effort to identify the people of this vicinity 
with the scheme, rather than to raise a bona-fide and valuable sub- 
sidy." 

In July, 1895, work was begun by the company, the occasion 
being made notable by an impressive ceremony in w^hich thousands 
of citizens joined. It was a great day for the city, for it felt that at 
last it was to have its canal. The Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging 



92 The City That Made Itself 

Company was given the contract for digging the waterways and fill- 
ing in the adjacent land in accordance with the agreement with the 
state. Had the canal finally been cut through it would have been 
necessary to move 35,000,000 cubic yards of earth, but the officers of 
the waterw^ay company were satisfied that there was room for all of 
it on the tideflats and that the improvement of these flats would war- 
rant the great expense of building the canal. By the end of 1 896 the 
company had excavated the east waterway for a distance of 2,000 
feet from deep water in Elliott Bay, had built several thousand feet 
of bulkheads and restraining work, and, w^ith the material excavated, 
filled in about fifty acres of land adjoining the city, lying between 
Railroad Avenue and Third Avenue South. Over $200,000 in certifi- 
cates of liens had been paid by the state. 

McGilvra and Burke had never relinquished the idea of the north 
canal, but w^hen the south project v^^as launched there w^as nothing for 
them to do but to continue to bring w^hat pressure they could on 
Washington and wait for the local enthusiasm to cool somew^hat. 
The fact that the w^aterways company vs^as to construct a canal free 
of all cost to the government vs^as a serious handicap for the cham- 
pions of the north project and they realized that to have the Govern- 
ment do the work it would be necessary to prevent the construction 
in the other end of the city. Perhaps of all the fights v^aged in Seattle 
this w^as the most carefully planned and executed. First, the Cham- 
ber of Commerce was won away from the south project, and soon all 
the papers in the city joined forces against it. Meanwhile some prog- 
ress v^^as being made at Washington. 

Congress, in 1894, had appropriated $25,000 for dredging in 
Salmon Bay and improving the v^aterv^ay "Connecting the w^aters of 
Puget Sound, at Salmon Bay, with Lakes Union and Washington by 
enlarging the said v^^aterway into a ship canal, w^ith the necessary 
locks and appliances in connection therev/ith, $25,000: Provided, 
That no part of said amount shall be expended on the improvement 
of the watervs^ay connecting the w^aters of Puget Sound and Lakes 
Union and Washington until the entire right-of-wray and a release 
from all liability to adjacent property owners have been secured to 
the United States free of cost and to the satisfaction of the Secretary 
of War." 

King County spent in all nearly $250,000 in fulfilling the Gov- 
ernment's requirement in regard to the right-of-way, and the proceed- 
ings were completed and the deeds filed for record June 22, 1900, 
being approved by the Secretary of War July I 7, of the same year. 

Meantime, in 1895, Congress had ordered another survey, and 
in 1 896 authorized the selection of either the Smith's Cove or Shil- 



Fight Opens in Earnest 93 

shole Bay route. It looked as if the Government meant business, but 
by an act of June 13, 1902, the project was given a distinct setback. 
The act provided for the expenditure of $160,000 for dredging from 
Shilshole Bay to the wharves at Ballard, but provided that this work 
should not be construed as the adoption of any project for the con- 
struction of the canal. It further provided for another of those inves- 
tigations of which Seattle w^as growing tired, but w^hen a board of 
engineers, consisting of Lieut. -Col. William H. Hewer, Capt. William 
C. Langfitt and First Lieut. Robert P. Johnston, assembled at Seattle 
in August, 1902, to go thoroughly into the matter, Seattle was ready 
for it. 

It is necessary here to go back and bring up the history of the 
waterways company to the time of this investigation. By 1897 the 
company had spent all the money raised in St. Louis to start the work 
and now wished fresh capital. Operations thus far had been confined 
to the waterways, and no start had yet been made to tear down 
Beacon Hill, or, in other words, to push through the 10,500 feet of 
canal that would unite the waters of Elliott Bay with those of Lake 
Washington. New capital would be necessary to permit the work on 
the canal to be commenced. 

The fight on the waterways company had been confined to desul- 
tory skirmishes up to the time of cessation of work in 1897 for lack 
of funds. When it was known that Edgar Ames, who had come to 
Seattle from St. Louis in 1 895 and was manager for the company, 
was going East to raise more money, the batteries of the enemy 
opened fire all along the line. The company was attacked from every 
angle, the papers pouring in broadsides every day, with "robbers," 
"thieves," "idiots" and similar epithets as bullets; the city threatened 
to enjoin the company if it tried to cut through the streets, private 
owners refused to pay for work already done, and the great railroad 
corporations fought bitterly against the project. 

When Mr. Ames reached the East he found that the noise of 
battle had preceded him, and it was impossible for him to raise any 
money. Returning to Seattle, he and Mr. Semple, who had succeeded 
Governor Ferry as president, decided to fight back, and the war 
opened in earnest. Cut off from the columns of newspapers, they 
were forced to resort to pamphlets and letters. Into the courts they 
took those who refused to pay for the work done on their lands, and 
out of the legal affrays the company emerged the victor. The legality 
of the law under which the company operated was attacked, but again 
the company won in the Supreme Court. Against the great odds 
lined up by the advocates of the north canal Semple and Ames fought 
as well as they could, but the progress was slow. 



94 The City That Made Itself 

In one instance they were assisted in a practical way by two of 
Mr. Semple's daughters, Mrs. F. E. Swanstrom and Miss Semple. The 
young women called on E. H. Wells, editor of the Star, which was 
bitter in its denunciation of the waterways company, and persuaded 
him to accompany them on a tour of the tidelands, in order that he 
could see just what the company was doing. Mr. Wells made a thor- 
ough inspection, his fair guides showing him everything that had 
been done, and thereafter the Star had no unfavorable comments on 
that portion of the company's work that had to do with filling in the 
tidelands. 

Will H. Parry, then manager of Moran Bros.' extensive plant, 
began to study the south canal project when he was assured by the 
Supreme Court decisions that its legal status w^as invulnerable. In 
I 900 he left Morans and joined Governor Semple, and it was only a 
short time until he built around the company's hopes a fortress of 
gold against which the shots of the enemy were ineffective. By his 
standing in the community, by his resourcefulness, energy, and an 
appetite for fighting that has always been keen, he carried the com- 
pany through all the remaining skirmishes until it had arranged for 
a fund of $4,000,000 with which to prosecute the work. Three mil- 
lions of this amount was to be raised by Morris & Whitehead, fiscal 
agents of the company for the sale of its bonds, and the Great North- 
ern and Northern Pacific both ordered fills on their tideland holdings 
that would cost in the aggregate approximately one million dollars. 
The railway companies had been engaged in litigation with the 
waterways company, but the litigation was compromised and all ob- 
jection to the work on the part of the railroads was withdravsm. Mr. 
Parry brought about this change in the warfare in a very expeditious 
manner and the promoters of the north canal project were not long 
in discovering that there was another Richmond in the field. TTie 
work was soon under way again vs^ith much vigor, and Beacon Hill 
was tackled, water supplied by the pumping station on Lake Wash- 
ington being sluiced onto the tidelands. 

Even with the actual work on the south canal under way the 
Chamber of Commerce did not relinquish its fight, and one result of 
its activity was the assembling of the Government board in Seattle in 
August, 1902, as already stated. Public sessions were held and citi- 
zens generally w^ere invited to appear and state their view^s. TTie 
Chamber of Commerce presented its case in favor of a Government 
canal, and Governor Semple had his day in court. Several private 
citizens gave their views. Perhaps the feeling that was stirred up 
over the controversy cannot be indicated in any better way than by 
quoting two paragraphs from the statement submitted to the board 
by Mr. McGilvra. In referring to the waterways company he said : 



Factions Brought Together 95 

"It seems to be a sort of Credit Mobilier proposition. It is the 
old, old game that was practiced nineteen hundred years ago, when 
the prince of darkness took the Saviour up into a mountain and 
offered him the whole earth on certain conditions, when the poor 
devil did not even own an acre outside of the infernal regions. 

"This Seattle & Lake Washington Waterway Company has been 
a vicious dog in the manger from the beginning, and there is not even 
one redeeming feature connected with it. It has prevented others 
from filling in the tide flats through its contract with the state, and 
by all and every means in its power retarded the construction of the 
Government canal. 

"The canal project by the Government and for the Government 
may be retarded, but defeated — never!" 

The board submitted its report to the Secretary of War on Jan- 
uary 27, 1903, in which it favored the adoption of the Shilshole Bay 
route, declared the cost of the south project to be prohibitive — but 
stated that there was no immediate necessity for a canal at all! 

When this report was filed the waterways company had again 
ceased work, the attacks on it having been continued with such 
severity that it once more found it hard to finance. TTie report of 
the Government board having damned both projects, the leaders of 
the fight on both sides began to consider that if there were to be a 
canal at all they had better discontinue wasting ammunition on one 
another and center all the fire in one direction. Mr. Parry set about 
bringing the two factions together and finally, in 1905, peace was 
declared. By its terms the Chamber of Commerce agreed to drop its 
fieht on the waterways company's work of filling in the tidelands and 
the waterwavs company agreed to abandon its project of building 
the canal. As a feature of the end of hostilties the waterways com- 
pany was reorganized, with the following directors : Will H. Parry, 
president: John H. McGraw and E. W. Andrews, vice-presidents; 
George M. Paschall, secretary; Eugene Semple, consulting engineer; 
Robert Moran, Jacob Furth and Andrew Hemrich. Edgar Ames 
dropped from the board and became president of the Seattle General 
Contract Company, which is still doing the actual work of filling in 
the tidelands. J. D. Blackwell became chief engineer for the water- 
w^ays company. 

While Eugene Semple failed in his project to give Seattle its 
long-cherished canal, he did a great work for the city in filling in the 
tidelands. He created out of a valueless waste of water and mud 
property worth today at least one hundred million dollars, and did it 
without placing a tax of a single dollar on any existing property. He 
came to Seattle at a time when it needed the tideflats for sites for 



96 The City That Made Itself 

industries, and not only pointed the way, but undertook himself to 
do the work. 

The united Seattle continued the fight for recognition from 
Washington, but it w^as discouraging work, so the city turned rather 
eagerly to James A. Moore, when, in 1 906, he offered to build the 
north canal. This sporadic action had little more permanent result 
than to further coniplicate the situation, but Mr. Moore's intentions 
were honest and he received the enthusiastic support of the city and 
county. At that time Mr. Moore was one of the biggest figures in 
Seattle and was doing a great deal of work for its permanent ben- 
efit. He had purchased the Denny Hotel, which had stood for years 
untenanted on the top of Denny Hill, opened it as the Washington 
and provided Seattle with what it badlj' needed at the time, another 
large and. first-class hotel; he gave his support to the Denny Hill re- 
grade and v^ras erecting nev^ buildings on the new level before those 
on the old had been razed. Seattle had good reason for believing he 
could do anything, so looked to him confidently for its long-cherished 
canal. 

Mr. Moore's purpose was two-fold. He desired to assist Seattle 
to procure the canal, but he also desired deep water connection w^ith 
the townsite of Kirkland, on Lake Washington, where he contem- 
plated establishing a great steel plant. Mr. Moore offered to build a 
canal 60 feet wide at the bottom and 25 feet deep, with a single tim- 
ber lock 600 feet long and 72 feet w^ide, if King County would sub- 
scribe $500,000 toward the undertaking. On September 12, 1906, 
King County's voters gave their almost unanimous approval to the 
bonus. After all this w^as carried through on the crest of the wave of 
enthusiasm, Seattle commenced to think, and decided that it wanted 
a permanent masonry lock instead of a wooden one. 

This led up to the organization of a number of leading citizens 
who decided that the time had come to take the canal out of politics 
and make it a busines proposition. It was necessary also to provide 
some method of raising the money necessary to do the excavating 
betvs^een the locks and Lake Washington, as demanded by the Gov- 
ernment. The Lake Washington Canal Association was incorporated 
on March 27, 1907, with the following trustees: J. S. Brace, Frank 
T. Hunter, John H. McGraw, J. W. Clise, Geo. J. Danz, O. C. 
McGilvra, C. E. Remsberg, Thomas Sanders, Fred Smithers, R. H. 
Collins, O. D. Colvin, H. W. Treat, S. L. Crawford, W. J. Shinn, 
John P. Hartman, James A. Moore, Capt. O. A. Powell, Watson 
Allen and S. L. Cradens. The trustees elected the following officers: 
President, J. S. Brace, who had called the first meeting which resulted 
in the organization; vice-president, S. L. Crawford; treasurer, C. E. 




The Hotel Washington on Denny Hill Before the Regrade Was Commenced. 




The Buildings That Arose in the Same Vicinity After Denny Hill Was Washed Away. 



Issue of Bonds Authorized 97 

Remsberg; secretary, Capt. O. A. Powell. Capt. Powell was also ap- 
pointed engineer. These officers served throughout the life of the 
association. On June 10, 1907, Mr. Moore assigned to the associa- 
tion his agreement with the government. 

It was first proposed to raise $1,000,000 by the creation of an 
assessment district, and the association vs^orked hard for a long time 
along this line. On the ground that the government had not shown 
any disposition to really construct the canal the assessment district 
plan was declared illegal by the State Supreme Court. By this time 
there was a movement on foot to improve the Duwamish waterway, 
in the southern part of the city, and affairs w^ere so involved generally 
that a spirit of antagonism was created between the tw^o projects. Final- 
ly all parties were drawn together by the association and a general bond 
election was held on October 10, 1910, the voters of the county ap- 
proving the issue of $750,000 in bonds for the canal, and $600,000 
for the Duwamish Waterway. Robert Bridges, Miller Freeman, 
Detrich Hamm and Frank Paul, of the Duvs^amish Waterv^ay advo- 
cates, joined w^ith the officers of the association in conducting the 
campaign which terminated so favorably to their plans. 

When the state was asked to contribute funds tovs^ards the expo- 
sition held in Seattle in 1 909 a plan was evolved by which the shore 
lands of Lakes Washington and Union should be platted and sold, the 
money thus derived to be spent on permanent improvements of the 
University Campus, upon which the exposition w^as held, the im- 
provements to be first used as a part of the exposition equipment. 
When the money was raised it was found that there wras $250,000 
more on hand than the exposition required, so this amount w^as trans- 
ferred to the canal fund, making it necessary for the county to vote 
only $750,000 to complete the $1,000,000 required for the excava- 
tion. 

The energetic and systematic work of the canal association bore 
fruit. Washington seemed to have grasped the idea at last that this 
end of the canal agitation was earnestly organized, and, largely ow^ing 
to the splendid work done at the national capital by John H. McGraw 
and John L. Wilson, one more survey v/as authorized, in the follow- 
ing terms : 

"And the Secretary of War make a survey and estimate of cost 
of said waterway or canal with one lock, with a view to the construc- 
tion of the same, in conjunction with the county authorities of King 
County, or other agency, of sufficient size to accommodate the largest 
commercial or naval vessel afloat ; or, if deemed more advisable, with 
a view to the construction of a canal of less dimensions, and to submit 



98 The City That Made Itself 

dimensions and estimates of cost of same, together with a report upon 
what portion of said work will be done or contribution to be made by 
said county or other agency. " 

Previous to this survey tw^o locks had been specified in all the 
plans, one near the entrance to Salmon Bay and one between Lakes 
Union and Washington. The one-lock canal vs^as advocated in this 
survey, which was made under the direction of General H. M. Chit- 
tenden, who had taken charge of the Seattle office of the United 
States engineers and w^hose investigations led him to become a 
staunch champion of the immediate construction of the canal. 
Largely owing to his work the Rivers and Harbors Act of June 25, 
1910, made provision for the construction of the canal, provided — 

"That before beginning said work or making such contract or 
contracts the Secretary of War shall be satisfied that King County or 
some local agency vv^ill do the excavation in the waterw^ay above the 
lock to the dimensions recommended in said project and w^ill also 
secure the United States from liability for any claims or damages on 
account of the grant made to James A. Moore or his assigns by the 
Act of Congress approved June eleventh, nineteen hundred and six, 
or on account of the low^ering of the level of Lake Washington, rais- 
ing the level of Salmon Bay, or any other alteration of the level of 
any part of said waterw^ay." 

All the conditions of the government were complied with, and 
on June 30, 1911, Seattle w^as delighted to hear that the Secretary of 
War expressed himself satisfied and ordered the w^ork to proceed. In 
September of that year actual construction commenced, bringing to 
an end Seattle's sixty-year struggle to unite the waters of Lake Wash- 
ington v/ith those of Puget Sound. Towards its cost the United 
States has appropriated $2,275,000, but the cost to Seattle and King 
County will be tw^ice that amount w^hen the expenses of procuring the 
right-of-way, direct canal taxation and the bridges over the canal and 
the water and sew^er conduits below^ it are considered. To dredge the 
channel between the locks and Lake Washington, King County is 
spending $750,000 and the State of Washington $200,000. 

When the canal opens in the Summer of 1915 Lakes Union and 
Washington will have a common level, the larger lake being lowered 
six feet to make this possible, and Seattle will have a fresh water 
harbor of about 24,000 acres, w^ith a shore line of approximately one 
hundred miles. There will be two locks, lying side by side, one to 
accommodate large vessels and the other the smaller craft. 

The large lock is 80 feet wide, 825 feet long betv^een upper and 
lov^^er gates, and has an intermediate gate dividing it into tw^o cham- 
bers, 450 feet and 375 feet long respectively. The depth of water on 



Dimensions of Canal Locks 99 

the upper miter sill is 36 feet at low water, and on the intermediate 
and lower miter sills 25 feet at extreme low tide in Puget Sound, 
which will afford 36 feet or more at mid-tide stages and above. 

The small lock, which lies south and alongside of the large lock, 
is 30 feet w^ide and 1 50 feet between gates. The depth of water on 
the upper sill is 1 6 feet at low water and on the lower miter sill I 2 
feet at extreme low water, which gives 1 6 feet or more at all stages 
of tide above mean low^ w^ater. 

The large and small locks combined, therefore, will form vir- 
tually four locks, 150, 375, 450 and 800 feet long respectively. 



CHAPTER NINE 



FROM HORSE CARS TO THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM 



HAD two horses been able to live on the supply of oats that was 
purchased for one, Seattle's first venture with a street car sys- 
tem would not have been attended w^ith such financial misgiv- 
ings. When the ways and means were summed up prior to construc- 
tion, provision was made for one horse to a car; w^hen the line was 
opened it was found that one horse could not pull a load up the 
grades. It was necessary to double the supply of horses, which, in 
turn, necessitated a double supply of oats — and that played such 
havoc with the receipts that the directors of the company decided that 
they had better investigate the question of electricity as a motive 
power. They did not know much about electricity. About the only 
thing in regard to the new^ and mysterious power of w^hich they w^ere 
sure was that it did not eat oats, and that was almost all they needed 
to know about it at the time. The directors of the company, Frank 
H. Osgood, Judge Thomas Burke and David T. Denny, realized that 
they must electrify the road — but I am a few years ahead of my 
story. 

In 1 883 Frank H. Osgood came to Seattle from Boston. He was 
ambitious to grow^ up v^^ith the West, but had no very clear idea of 
the line along which he would direct his energies. He brought a 
letter of introduction to Thomas Burke. 

"Why not build a street car system?" suggested Burke. "George 
Kinnear and Dave Denny have a franchise for a road along Front 
Street and I think they would be glad to hand it over to someone who 
would put in the line." 

Young Osgood looked into the matter, took over the franchise, 
organized the Seattle Street Railw^ay Company, with Burke and 
Denny as fellov^ directors, induced some of his Boston friends to 
invest money in the line, ordered the equipment and w^aited for it to 
arrive. Kinnear and Denny were glad enough to surrender the fran- 
chise as the only purpose they ■wished to serve by the construction of 
a line v^^as the opening of some large tracts of land which they owned 
in the north end of the city. Mr. Osgood w^as interested only in 
profits that might accrue from the operation of a street railway sys- 
tem and was one of the fevs^ among the many who subsequently put 
money into such enterprises who did not have the development of 
real estate as the motive for their investment. The first change that 
Osgood had to make was altering the route of his road from First 

100 






,-'*'«^ 



;; \\v^\^^^-k 





Seattle's First Street Car Turning from Occidental Avenue to Vesler Way. Tlie Otticial Opening Party. 
Standing l)ehind the horses, Frank H. Osgood, who Installed the system; on the rear platform, 
E. B. Downing and W. T. Sharpe; inside the car were, among others, Mrs. H. G. Struve, Mrs. W. 
H. Harrington, Mrs. Osgood, Mrs. J. C. Haines. C H. Kittinger and .Josiah Collins. The driver 
was George W. WlUiams, a large colored man, who achieved great popularit.v. 




A Modem Pliolograph. Taken from the .Same Spot as the Upper One, Showing an 
of the Puget Sounil Traction, Light & Power Company. 



Internrl>an Train 



Value of the Horse Cars 101 

Avenue to Second Avenue, as the merchants on First Avenue (then 
Front Street) did not desire to have traffic seriously impeded by the 
rails. Osgood was satisfied, for even at that early date he was con- 
vinced that Second Avenue would grow to be the more important 
avenue. His franchise gave him the right to build on Second Avenue 
from Occidental to Pike, from which point two branches would be 
run, one to First Avenue and along it to Belltown, which was the 
name for the district tributary to the corner of Battery Street and 
First Avenue; and another branch from Pike, and by various streets 
to Lake Union. 

When the rails arrived they were unloaded on a wharf at the 
foot of Main Street and the difficulty of transporting them was over- 
come by making the wharf one of the termini of the system. The 
work of laying the rails began on the wharf and as it proceeded up to 
Occidental and thence up Second the unlaid rails were taken to their 
destination over that part of the line already constructed. When the 
line was built as far as Pike Street its operation began. This was in 
the Fall of I 884. It was a great day for Seattle and Mr. Osgood was 
looked upon as a public benefactor. 

It was the first street car system in Washington Territory and 
was given to Seattle at a time when it was of greater value as an 
advertisement than it was as a means of transporting the citizens 
along its route, although, of course, it was a great convenience from 
the traffic standpoint. At that time the fight between Seattle and 
Tacoma was bitter and anything that gave either city the least advan- 
tage was an important acquisition to the city that secured it. For 
years before that, and for years after, it was problematical which of 
the two cities would become the important point on the Sound. 
Neither had a great deal to sustain it and capital from the out- 
side for investment was eagerly sought. People were coming from 
the East and looking over the two cities with a view to choosing one 
as a home, and as Seattle could point to its street railway at a time 
when Tacoma had none, the enterprise of Frank H. Osgood was of 
great benefit to the little city. Only the people who lived here at 
the time can appreciate the seriousness of the fight that Tacoma made 
to stem the rising tide of Seattle's importance. Misrepresentation 
was one of the mildest weapons resorted to. A wealthy resident of 
Boston, who was persuaded by Mr. Osgood to invest in the street 
railway, visited the Sound during construction to satisfy himself as 
to the prospects of his investment. In those days anyone coming 
from the East had to pass through Tacoma and spend a night there, 
as the Northern Pacific controlled the steamboats and maintained a 
schedule that made reaching Seattle as hard a task as possible. The 



102 The City That Made Itself 

Boston man had a letter to a Tacoma banker and spent the evening 
with him. 

"Rather a waste of time going on to Seattle," remarked the 
banker, when he was informed of his guest's proposed destination. 
"It's only a small saw-mill town of no consequence whatever and 
never can amount to anything. It hasn't even got a hotel, so I don't 
see where you could stop even if you w^ent there. " 

This rather disturbed the Boston man, and if he had not already 
had money invested in Seattle he would probably have returned East 
without coming here. He came on, however, and Mr. Osgood soon 
dissipated his doubts. TTiousands of such cases played their part in 
Tacoma's persistent campaign, and there is no record of the number 
of people who were lost to Seattle on acount of it. 

When the rails of the street car system had been laid as far as 
Madison Street on their journey north to Pike a number of Northern 
Pacific people came to Seattle and were driven about the city by John 
Leary. 

"Every time I came near your tracks," said Leary to Osgood, 
that evening, "I whipped up the horses and gave those fellows an 
awful bump, always remarking as I did so, 'By the way, you will 
notice that we are putting in a street-car system.' I don't know what 
else they learned today, but they certainly learned that, for I just kept 
driving back and forth across the rails." 

It wU be seen, therefore, that Seattle had good reason to be grate- 
ful to Mr. Osgood. But the street car magnate realized that the grat- 
itude of the people would not buy oats for his horses, so he proceeded 
to develop his first comprehensive plan for increasing the traffic of the 
line and at the same time bring some valuable trade to the city. There 
were numerous farms along the eastern shore of Lake Washington, 
and there was no direct and easy route for the farmers to take in 
bringing their trade to Seattle. The city was making its sensational 
fight for rail connection with the outside world, but the progress was 
slow^ and the future held little hope, so Mr. Osgood set about making 
the cars that followed the plodding horses along the streets a means 
of bringing commerce to Seattle. He extended the line to the corner 
of Eighth Avenue and Virginia Street, and thence through the woods 
to the southern end of Lake Union. There he built a wharf. The 
Washington Improvement Company, as related in the chapter dealing 
with the Lake Washington Canal, had been organized to construct 
the canal before Mr. Osgood came to Seattle. Even at that early day 
the canal had ben dreamed of and agitated for for thirty years. They 
had made a connection betvs^een Lake Union and Salmon Bay, and in 
1 885 Mr. Osgood joined their board of directors and took a contract 



Electricity Is Talked About 103 

for the construction of a canal between Lakes Union and Washington. 
He commenced work and had in view^ the completion of a passage 
from the upper lake to the lower one to enable boats to bring the 
produce of the farms on Lake Washington to his w^harf on Lake 
Union. He dug the ditch and put in ninety-foot locks, and had the 
w^ork almost completed w^hen, in 1 886, the Seattle, Lake Shore & 
Eastern Railroad Company vs^as organized to build a railroad through 
the territory which he had proposed to serve with the canal. Mr. 
Osgood w^as one of the incorporators of the railroad company and he 
and his fellow directors of the Washington Improvement Company 
decided to abandon the canal project and put all their energy into the 
lailroad enterprise. Thus the locks were never opened to traffic, but 
as an evidence of the honesty of the work put into them they still 
stand at a point a few hundred feet south of the route the Government 
Canal is taking. It w^ill be seen, therefore, that Mr. Osgood is not only 
entitled to the credit of giving Seattle its first street car system, but 
he also played a most active part in endeavoring to realize the long 
cherished dream of a canal that would open the fresh water basins to 
boats from Puget Sound. 

Being cut off from the revenue which he expected his street car 
line would earn from the lake commerce, Mr. Osgood directed his 
attention to the development of the system into a money-maker. He 
was too enterprising to be content with the horse equipment if there 
were anything better procurable. 

From the first time Osgood heard about electricity he took a keen 
interest in it. He read everything he could find about the new force 
and in i 886 decided that it was time to investigate. He went to 
Judge Burke and asked his opinion. 

"1 am going to live to see the day," he told the Judge, "when 
transcontinental railroads will be pulling trains over the mountains 
and into Seattle by electricity." 

Burke was quite sure that Osgood had gone mad. At that time 
there was not a car being run successfully by electricity in the world, 
cind there was no transcontinental railroad showing any disposition to 
enter Seattle. The Judge, however, was always ready to listen to 
anything that might benefit the city, so he called in D. T. Denny and 
the three directors discussed the matter. As a result they voted five 
hundred dollars, which would have provided a tremendous supply of 
oats in those days, and Osgood went East to study electricity as a 
motive power. He met the street car people in Boston, seme of 
whom were interested with him in Seattle, and they laughed at him 
when he suggested the possibility of horses ever being supplanted by 
electricity. They thought it absurd that a man should come all the 



104 The City That Made Itself 

way from Seattle to teach them anything about the future of urban 
transportation. However, when Osgood returned home he reported 
to his fellow directors that the time would soon come when the new 
power would be available, but that as yet it was in the experimental 
stage, and his small company could not afford to experiment. So the 
horses continued to jog along and consume oats. No one in town 
except the three directors knew that electricity had been considered 
tor the system. 

The story now takes another angle. 

As F. T. Blunck, of Davenport, Iowa, came to Seattle in the 
spring of 1 888 with the idea of investing in real estate he was not here 
long before Luther Henry Griffith knew of it. Luther was only 26 
years old at the time, but his real estate activities were great. He took 
Blunck out to the north end of the city and as they were traversing 
the unsettled valley between Denny Way and Queen Anne Hill they 
stopped for a chat. 

"If you will give me four bits I'll tell you of something worth 
more than real estate," said Griffith. 

"How much is four bits?" asked Blunck. 

"Fifty cents," replied Griffith. 

Blunck gravely produced fifty cents and handed it to Griffith. 

"Let's build a street car line from the city, along the shore of 
Lake Union, to open all the land that lies at the head of the lake." 

"That sounds all right," agreed Blunck. 

"And let us make it an electric line," continued Griffith. 

"Electric? " asked Blunck. 

"Sure!" said Griffith. "Electric cars are coming in and we might 
as well be among the pioneers. In five years more horse cars will be 
a thing of the past." 

The older man and the young one sat on a log and discussed it. 
In the East Griffith had an uncle who was devoting his time to elec- 
trical development and through family letters Griffith was kept posted 
on v^hat was going on. It appealed to his imagination, for he was 
joung and already worth a fortune. When ambition and capital are 
linked great things can be accomplished. He talked earnestly to 
Blunck. 

The men walked back to the city by the route that they thought 
a line should take, went to Blunck's room in the Seattle Hotel, called 
Victor Hugo Smith and Dr. E. C. Kilbourne into conference, and that 
evening the West Street, Lake Union & Park Transit Company was 
organized. The capital decided upon was $200,000 and Blunck and 



Amalgamation Is Effected 105 

Griffith agreed to put up all the money necessary, each of them imme- 
diately posting $10,000 towards a working capital. When the papers 
were subsequently filed L. H. Griffith, F. T. Blunck, Victor Hugo 
Smith, Dr. E. C. Kilbourne and George Hyde Preston were named as 
directors. The original plan was to buy real estate in the districts 
the line was to serve and make enough profit from it to build the 
system. 

News of the undertaking became known after all the land the 
incorporators of the company desired had been purchased and an 
application had been made for a franchise, allowing the company to 
build along Western Avenue from the foot of Pike Street to Cedar 
Street, thence to Denny Way and by connecting streets to Lake 
Union. 

When Seattle heard it was to have an electric street railvs^ay it 
laughed. An announcement by a milkman in 1914 that hereafter 
he would make deliveries by aeroplane would not be received with 
half the derision that followed the announcement of Griffith and his 
associates. That electric railways could be successfully operated had 
not as yet been fully demonstrated. Besides, Seattle already had 
street cars, pulled by sober, sedate and unemotional horses, who 
could make all the speed necessary, and the city could not see why 
it wanted to monkey with any such new-fangled, mysterious toy as 
electricity. 

Osgood and his associates did not laugh. He had kept fully 
abreast of electrical development, believed by this time that it was 
practical, and had already decided that the time had come to replace 
the horses w^ith electricity. The cable company had also been incor- 
porated and the street railway situation would be considerably 
muddled if the small city had horse, cable and electric cars running 
in opposition to one another. He suggested that the Griffith-Blunck 
interests join with his, electrify the system already in operation on 
Second Avenue and put up a solid front against the cable crow^d. 
The electric people saw the force of this and the consolidation was 
effected. As the possibility of selling power was also a consideration 
the name of the organization became the Seattle Electric Railway & 
Power Company. Its directors were Thomas Burke, G. Morris 
Haller, Frank H. Osgood, Morgan J. Carkeek, Victor Hugo Smith, 
Dr. E. C. Kilbourne and L. H. Griffith. Mr. Osgood became presi- 
dent and manager. The capital of this company was $100,000 in 
stock and $1 75,000 in bonds. Eac'i of the interests accepted $60,000 
in stock and $60,000 in bonds for their holdings in their respective 
companies, the $55,000 in bonds remaining being held for sale as 
new money was needed for extension of track and equipment. 



106 The City That Made Itself 

In order to learn something more about the business for which 
it was organized the company sent Osgood and Kilbourne East to 
visit the plant of the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, which 
was one of the two companies manufacturing the equipment which 
the company must have. Their investigation made them enthu- 
siastic. The company entered into a contract with the Thomson- 
Houston people for the exclusive right to use their equipment in 
Seattle and a distance of six miles on all sides of the city. 

When the power plant was completed at the foot of Pike Street 
it included a 1 6-foot boiler, 1 00-horse power Armington & Simms 
engine and an 80-horse power Thomson-Houston generator. The 
rolling stock consisted of five double-reduction Thomson-Houston 
1 5-horse power motor equipments, four Jones car bodies with Brill 
trucks. 

The work of constructing and equipping the Seattle system pro- 
ceeded rapidly. F. W. Watkins was sent out by the Thomson- 
Houston Company as electrical engineer to superintend the installa- 
tion of the plant. The equipment was of the crudest kind, when 
measured by modern standards, and the patents of the Eastern com- 
pany so closely protected it that every time anything broke it had 
to be replaced from the factory, necessitating a delay of at least two 
weeks. TTie absolute lack of experience in construction — an igno- 
rance explained by the fact that there was no place where they could 
go to profit by the mistakes that others had made, as the few com- 
panies in the East knew no more about what they were trying to do 
than did the Seattle people — caused frequent delays and ate up the 
capital of the company faster than had been expected. 

But the company weathered all the storms, and late at night on 
March 30, 1 889, the first car was run over the system, the only 
passenger, in addition to officers and employees of the company, 
being Mrs. (Capt.) F. J. Burns, who had been an enthusiastic sup- 
porter of the idea from the first and had been given a promise by 
Mr. Griffith that she would have a ride in the first car run over 
Seattle streets. Thus Mrs. Burns was the first woman to ride on an 
electrically-driven car in Seattle. The experiment was a success and 
during the night the horse cars, ^vhich had continued in service 
during the construction of the electric line, were teetered off the track 
at the car barn and never ran again on a Seattle street. 

On the morning of March 31, 1 889, Seattle's electric railway 
commenced regular service. There was no ceremony, but the excite- 
ment was tremendous. The day for v^'hich the whole city had w^aited 
for months was at hand and all Seattle lined Second Avenue to 
watch the cars go by. Everj;^ time a car stopped the curiosity of the 



Unparalleled Operating Record 107 

people nearly disrupted the service, as it was with difficulty that the 
more venturesome were restrained from crawling under the car to 
see what made it go. 

The most interested crowd gathered at the foot of James Street 
to see if the car could take a load up the eleven per cent grade to 
Second Avenue. The cable people had reluctantly admitted that the 
new cars would probably run all right on the level streets, but they 
were confident they would never make the grade. In fact, the men 
who were building the cable road were quite sure the electric line 
was ordained to failure. "Osgood," said J. C. Haines one day during 
construction, "don't you see that you can never operate in winter? 
The rains will wash the current off the wires and you will not be 
able to turn a wheel." However, Osgood was not disturbed by such 
predictions, but he was anxious to make good on the grade. At the 
bottom of the hill he loaded the car full and when it went up hill 
without a pause the victory for the new power was complete. 

At the corner of Second Avenue and Yesler Way, Gee Lee, a 
Chinaman, stood for a long time and watched the cars go by. 
Finally he summed up his bewilderment by exclaiming, "No pushee, 
no pullee, all samee go like hellee!" The papers published his 
remark and it has since become a classic. 

All day long the four cars in operation were jammed with pas- 
sengers, the receipts being over $200. For seven months the service 
continued without interruption, a feat unparalleled at that time by 
any other operating company. TTie Seattle system was the seventh 
in the world to purchase equipment and the fourth to commence 
operation, so it was most decidedly a pioneer in a new field. It was 
Griffith's ambition to keep the line running no matter what hap- 
pened. To do this it was often necessary to work all night at the 
cars, repairing some defect that had been discovered during the day. 
Osgood had ordered an extra truck, and many times it was necessary 
to jack up the body of the car, slip an injured truck out from under 
it and run the extra one in its place. Even during the Seattle fire, 
in June, I 889, the cars never stopped running, although their sides 
were blistered by the heat they encountered at places along their 
route. 

Mr. Griffith had been busy during construction. His ideas were 
not always the same as those of the horse-car directors, so he made 
a proposition to them to sell out to him. As soon as the line was 
operating, Burke, Denny, Haller and Osgood sold their interests to 
Griffith and he took entire charge of the system. He made a record 
in operating that at that time had never been equalled. The wisdom 
of Osgood and Kilbourne in making the selection of the equipment 



108 The City That Made Itself 

^vas demonstrated by the fact that the Seattle road was the first in 
the world to operate from that day until the present time without 
changing its equipment ; that is, the additions and improvements to 
the first installations were made by the same company from which 
the first purchase was made, and the present magnificent plant that 
operates Seattle's great system was supplied by the successor to that 
company, the General Electric Company. 

Early operation in Seattle was attended by many amusing inci- 
dents. One woman brought suit against the company for damages 
on the ground that while lying in bed in a rooming-house that stood 
on the corner now occupied by the Butler Hotel she had received a 
severe electrical shock that had made her a nervous wreck. She tes- 
tified at the trial that she sawr the electricity attack her from the ceil- 
ing of her room. The company showed that what she saw was the 
reflection of the sparks made by the cars when rounding the corner 
over which her room was located, and she recovered nothing. 

Whenever a trolley line broke — an accident that frequently hap- 
pened — there was a fearful commotion. People for blocks on either 
side of it were warned to keep clear, as to touch it meant instant 
death. The company's employees had also been notified never to 
touch a live wire, and before linemen would repair the damage the 
current had to be shut off. On one occasion an employee thought 
the power was off and climbed to the top of a car to repair a break. 
While he was at work, with the wire in his hands, he was mystified 
at seeing another car approaching. Griffith had come upon the scene 
by that time and was equally bewildered. That the power was really 
on admitted of no doubt, but why the workman was not dead was 
what no one could understand. Finally Griffith discovered that wood 
was a non-conductor and that the man on top of the car was 
insulated. 

Once on Pike Street a telephone wire fell across the trolley v^^ire 
and dangled about seven feet from the ground. A lineman knov^n 
as Barney hurried to the spot. He knew^ the w^ire w^ould be alive, but 
he did not think that electricity could act particularly rapidly, so he 
jumped into the air and grabbed the wire, intending to release his 
hold before the juice became aware of what he was doing. As soon 
as he hit the ground with the wire in his hand he got a terrific shock 
which made him jump again and emit a yell that was heard all over 
that part of the city. As soon as he jumped the second time he 
broke the circuit, but he did not release his hold, so he hit the ground 
again and received another shock and let go another yell. Again he 
made a leap, mightier than either of the other two, lost his balance 




The Gray Skyline of a Seattle Night. The lawman Building: in the Center and the Smith 

Building in the Background. 



An Electrical Tug-of-War 109 

and fell. This pulled the w^ire down, and thereafter Barney never 
tried to fool an electric current. 

Some time after the line was operating another incident oc- 
curred that is more amusing to an electrical expert than to a layman, 
but is sufficiently funny to w^arrant relating. The Westinghouse 
people had commenced to manufacture motors, and Griffith, in an 
effort to decide which equipment w^as better for his line, placed an 
order with the new factory. When a car was equipped with the 
Westinghouse product the question arose as to the method to be 
adopted to prove whether it was more powerful than the Thomson- 
Houston equipment. 

"Let's have a tug-of-war," suggested Griffith. Accordingly two 
cars, one w^ith the old equipment and one w^ith the new^, were hitched 
together facing in opposite directions and the power turned on both 
at the same time. It was evident that the car which pulled the other 
back was the more powerful. Unfortunately for the value of the 
experiment, the only result was the blowing out of a fuse on one of 
the overloaded motors. 

These incidents emphasize the pioneering aspect of the work 
that Griffith was doing. Every step taken was in the nature of an 
experiment. The line was a great advertisement for the city. Dele- 
gations came to Seattle from all parts of America to study the system 
and it was after seeing the Seattle cars in successful operation that 
many other cities decided to supplant their horse cars with the more 
modern equipment. 

To give a detailed history of the development of the street car 
business in Seattle would consume more space than a reader's inter- 
est would encompass. At one time there were thirteen different 
companies operating systems of various magnitude in the city, and 
to try to condense their separate stories into a readable whole would 
lead into a tangle of organizations, re-organizations, consolidations 
and receiverships that would be bewildering. A glance at the histo- 
rical chart published herewith will assist the reader to trace the 
various consolidations, and I will content myself with recounting 
some of the more prominent episodes that led up to the organization 
that occupies the field today. 

The object of Mr. Griffith's street railway activity was to in- 
crease the value of the land he owned on what was then the outskirts 
of the city. The increase in the population of the city necessitated 
extensions and additions that the ordinary receipts of the company 
could not provide, so the money that supplied them was the profit 
on the real estate transactions. The promoters of other lines had 



110 The City That Made It self 

similar reasons for building lines, and it was due solely to the brisk- 
ness of the real estate market that Seattle finally got itself into a 
street railway muddle that wiped away several fortunes. 

While the first electric line was being constructed, J. M. 
Thompson, who had successfully built cable lines in San Francisco, 
came to Seattle and interested several prominent citizens in an enter- 
prise to construct numerous cable lines here. Among those whose 
financial support he gained were Maurice McMicken, A. B. Stewart, 
H. G. Struve, W. G. Bowman, Jacob Furth, Bailey Gatzert, John P. 
Hoyt, Sigmund Schwabacher, J. C. Haines, and Dr. A. P. Mitton. 
They organized the Front Street Cable Line and it was their activity 
that Osgood had feared, as I have already related. It is interesting 
now to note that these men, among the leaders in the city, planned a 
complete system of cable roads while preparations were under way 
right at hand to thoroughly test the feasibility of the new power 
which was creating such a furore in the mechanical and scientific 
world. It reflects the strength of their conviction at the time that 
Osgood and Griffith were making a monumental blunder. They 
never took them seriously and proceeded with their plans without 
any consideration of the possibility of their success, making the boast 
that they would put the electric crowd out of business. 

The new company obtained a franchise to construct a line from 
a turntable at the intersection of First Avenue and Yesler Way, 
north to Pike Street, then to Second, and north on Second to Denny 
Way. The electric company was building on Pike from First to 
Second, so for one block the rival routes were over the same street. 
Various fights for streets were waged by both companies before the 
City Council and, as each was quite frank in predicting failure for 
the other, the feeling between the two companies was none too cor- 
dial. When the cable company commenced to lay its tracks on the 
block on Pike Street which the electric line already occupied, the 
respective working gangs came to blows and out of the fracas came 
many bleeding noses and much bitter feeling. There was nearly 
another outbreak when the cable company laid tracks on First Ave- 
nue South, where the electric company already had a franchise. 
Griffith went to the City Council and informed it that if the city 
would not protect his rights he would take the law into his own 
hands. The city ordered the tracks removed. Shortly after this Mr. 
Furth became the leading spirit in the cable company and he and 
Griffith worked harmoniously, and the rivalry between the two com- 
panies was friendly, although none the less positive. 

Early in I 890 Griffith considered that the time was ripe to push 
his line through to Fremont from Pike Street. He conceived the 



Some Rapid Construction Work 111 

plan of cutting a thoroughfare straight from Pike Street to Lake 
Union, and to make it easier to obtain the consent of property own- 
ers he became one himself by purchasing fifty-three lots along the 
route of the proposed street, which, years afterwards, was cut 
through and is now Westlake Avenue. The cable people also 
wanted to reach Lake Union and made application for a franchise 
at the same time as Griffith launched his proposal. The Council con- 
cluded that there was no use cutting a street through private prop- 
erty to accommodate the electric line if the cable company v^ras pre- 
pared to build to the lake over a zigzag route, so favored the latter's 
application. 

"Very w^ell,*' said Griffith, at a meeting of the Council, "give 
us both a franchise over the streets we w^ant and the company that 
gets its line through first can have possession of the route. I am 
willing to m.atch my speed with theirs." 

The Council thought the proposition was fair enough and 
granted both companies a franchise — and in five days Griffith had 
electric cars running to the lake! 

Some weeks before, three miles of rails had been brought to 
Tacoma by Balfour, Guthrie & Co., as ballast, and Griffith had pur- 
chased it cheap, leaving it at the Tacoma dock until he needed it. He 
had anticipated the necessity for quick construction and had every- 
thing lined up so that the morning after the franchise ^vas granted 
he descended on the streets v^th hundreds of men and numerous 
gang-plows and completed the grading in one day. In the other four 
days the tracks w^ere laid and the electrical installation completed. 
The cable company made no attempt at competition and never built 
a line to the lake. 

Griffith w^anted to carry his line around Lake Union so as to 
reach Fremont, which he had named after his home place in 
Nebraska, but he did not see where he was going to get sufficient 
money to complete it, so he commenced to work both ways from the 
center. It was necessary to carry the line out into the lake on piles 
and when his money ran out each end of the trestle was several hun- 
dred feet from land. The demand on the part of the people that the 
roadway be completed w^as a potent force behind Mr. Griffith's 
formal request to the same end. He figured that if either end v/ere 
connected with the land there w^ould be just half as much public 
opinion back of him, hence his action in w^orking both ways from 
the middle. 

Follow^ing the history of the first electric road takes it into the 
hands of D. T. Denny & Sons, who purchased all Mr. Griffith's hold- 



112 The City That Made Itself 

ings on August 3, 1893, giving notes for the full purchase price, 
$212,000. The Dennys had profited by Griffith's pioneering work 
and had built an electric line on Third Avenue. Not long after buy- 
ing Griffith out the financial condition of the country was such that 
the Dennys could not carry the load, and the company went into the 
hands of a receiver, M. F. Backus being appointed. In 1895 the 
entire power plant and equipment of the road were destroyed by fire, 
which broke out after all the cars had been stored for the night. 
With the money derived from the insurance the system was rehabili- 
tated. On January 1, 1897, a committee appointed by the bond- 
holders organized the Seattle Traction Company, which, on Novem- 
ber 5, 1900, was absorbed by the Seattle Electric Company as part 
of a great consolidation that is worthy of a chapter by itself. 

When Mr. Osgood sold out his street railway interests he de- 
voted himself entirely to the electrical business and for twenty-five 
years thereafter was a big power in it in the Northwest. He not only 
built and equipped other lines in Seattle under contract, as related in 
the next chapter, but his activities spread over Vancouver, Victoria, 
Port Townsend, Fairhaven, Whatcom, Tacoma, Portland, Spokane 
and Fidalgo Island. 



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CHAPTER TEN 



STONE AND WEBSTER ENTER THE FIELD 



w 



HO, then, is this one man who you say can reconcile all 
the conflicting elements and enable us to get control of all 
the lines?" asked Charles A. Stone, of Stone & Webster. 

"Jacob Furth," replied W. J. Grambs. "He knovs^s the situa- 
tion better than any other man, has the confidence of everybody and 
is the one man in Seattle who can serve your interests best." 

The traction magnate called on the banker and the details of the 
proposed consolidation w^ere discussed. Mr. Furth show^ed such an 
extraordinary grasp, not only of the local situation, but of the task 
before any corporation that would attempt to reduce Seattle's 
chaotic street railv^^ay system to one smooth-running w^hole, that an 
arrangement was made forthwith for him to join his interests with 
those of Stone & Webster and act as their representative in Seattle. 
This was in I 899, and when Mr. Furth's connection with the Boston 
firm was terminated by his death in 1 9 1 4 he and his associates were 
largely in control of the electric transportation and lighting situation 
in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Whatcom and Skagit counties and 
Seattle had one of the most perfect street railway systems in the 
world. 

It was early in the year 1899 when W. J. Grambs received in- 
structions from Boston to buy a controlling interest in the Union 
Electric Company and the Seattle Steam Heat & Power Company, 
which were in control of the light and pow^er business in Seattle. 
Grambs was the local representative of the General Electric Company 
of Nevf York and manager of the Consumers' Electric Company, and 
had been receiver for several of the street railw^ay companies that 
had become financially embarrassed. He came to Seattle w^hen elec- 
tricity was in the infancy of its development and has been identified 
with the industry ever since. Acting under his instructions he 
assigned the task of quietly picking up the necessary stock to M. H. 
Young and it was not long before sufficient certificates had been sent 
to Boston to assure the Stone & Webster people that they had con- 
trol of the Union Electric Company. Mr. Stone then came to Seattle 
for the purpose of acquiring the street railvs^ay properties. The 
Boston man and his associates, after spending some days negotiating 
with the owners of the roads, w^ere on the point of abandoning all 
hope of coming to an understanding, when Mr. Furth was suggested 

113 



114 The City That Made Itself 

to him by Mr. Grambs as the one man to bring about a satisfactory 
solution of the problem — and the thing was done. 

In order to gain some idea of the street railway situation in 
Seattle at the time it is necessary to make a brief survey of the 
various companies that had constructed lines since the first horse 
cars traversed Second Avenue in 1 884 In the previous chapter I 
related the destinies of the first company and also traced the history 
of the first electric road. When Mr. Griffith's line finally reached 
the north end of Lake Union it connected with a road that had been 
built from there to Green Lake as a logging road and was electrified 
by W. D. Wood, V. H. Smith, E. C. Kilbourne, C. E. Chapin and 
James Leddy, w^ho were interested in real estate in that part of the city. 

The Front Street Cable Company, which is mentioned in the 
previous chapter, was not the first to construct a cable road in Seattle. 
In 1 888 the Lake Washington Cable Railway Company was organ- 
ized by J. M. Thomson, Fred E. Sander and others. This line 
started at Occidental Avenue and Yesler Way, ran out Yesler Way 
to the lake, cut across to Jackson Street, thence north on Occidental 
Avenue to the point of beginning, forming a loop. The company 
was absorbed by the Seattle City Railw^ay Company on August 25, 
1890. 

The same group of men who organized the Front Street Cable 
RaiWay also organized the North Seattle Cable Railw^ay Company 
end constructed a line from its Front Street (now First Avenue) line 
to the top of Queen Anne Hill. On March 1 st, 1 889, both these 
companies w^ere consolidated -with the First Avenue Cable Railway 
Company. In the same year the South Seattle Cable Railway was 
incorporated to run south from Jackson Street on First Avenue. The 
rails w^ere laid on a trestle running south about two miles and a small 
dummy engine used to haul the single car back and forth on the road. 

On September 17, 1889, the Madison Street Cable Railway 
Company wras incorporated, to operate a cable line on Madison Street 
from the foot of the street to Tw^enty-fifth Avenue. Two years 
later this line w^as extended to Lake Washington. The company was 
incorporated by Jacob Furth, Maurice MacMicken, A. P. Mitten, H. 
G. Struve, J. C. Haines, E. C. Hughes, A. B. Stewart and others. 

In January, I 890, W. R. Ballard, Thomas Burke, D. H. Oilman 
and others incorporated the West Street and North End Railway 
Company. This line started at Columbia and Post Streets and ran 
out north along the w^aterfront, turning east at Smith's Cove and 
thence to Ballard. The line was built by F. H. Osgood, w^ho, after 
selling his interest in Seattle's first electric road, entered actively into 
the electrical railway business by taking contracts to construct and 



Various Companies Organized 115 

equip systems. The Ballard line was for the purpose of developing 
the townsite of Ballard, which w^as owned by the incorporators of 
the company. 

On November 10, 1891, the Union Trunk Line was organized 
by J. D. Lowman, M. H. Young, E. H. Whitler and associates. A 
cable line was constructed from First Avenue and James Street to 
Broadw^ay and James Street, from which point electric lines were 
built running north and south on Broadway. The line south ran to 
Beacon Hill and another branch east to Rainier Heights, on the shore 
of Lake Washington. 

August 19, 1891, Fred E. Sander incorporated the Grant Street 
Electric Railway Company, w^hich started at the corner of Yesler and 
Second Avenue and ran in a southerly direction to Georgetown, 
where it connected with the South Park Electric Railway Company, 
which had previously been built, but was sold to the Grant Street 
Electric Railway Company before it started to operate. 

In 1 89 1 , D. T. Denny, vs^ho was operating a saw-mill on the 
shores of Lake Union, incorporated the Rainier Power & Railway 
Company and built a line of railway beginning at the old City Hall, 
corner of Yesler Way and Third Avenue, running north to Union 
Street, thence out Union Street to Ninth Avenue, thence in a north- 
erly direction along the shores of Lake Union past the University and 
out to Ravenna Park. This property got into financial trouble and 
went into the hands of a receiver and was reorganized on January 
25, 1895, as the Third Street & Suburban Railway Company. 

In 1 890 the West Seattle Cable Railway Company was organ- 
ized and built by San Francisco parties who were interested in real 
estate at West Seattle. This company operated the first ferry across 
the bay. The cable line was abandoned in 1 898 and purchased by 
the municipality of West Seattle, and later on was equipped with 
electric cars. The line did not prove financially successful and be- 
came a burden to the municipality. It w^as sold to the Seattle Electric 
Company in February, 1907. 

In 1901 J. M. Frink and his associates organized the Seattle 
Central Railway Company. The line was built and afterwards sold 
to the Seattle Electric Company in March, 1 902. 

The Everett & Interurban Railway Company was incorporated 
May 29, 1902 by Fred E. Sander, and a road was started from Bal- 
lard to run north to the city of Everett. Construction was com- 
menced during the latter part of 1902 and in 1905 the line had been 
built a distance of fifteen miles north to Hall's Lake. The property 
was then re-incorporated under the name of the Seattle-Everett & 



116 The City That Made Itself 

Interurban Railway and, in 1907, sold to interests represented by- 
Stone & Webster, and the name changed to the Seattle-Everett Inter- 
urban Company, and afterwards changed by Stone & Webster to 
the Pacific-Northwest Traction Company. 

TTie Rainier Avenue Electric Railway Company, which started 
from James Street and ran east to Rainier Avenue and then south 
into the Rainier Valley, was built by J. K. Edmonston. The road, in 
the early nineties, w^ent into the hands of a receiver, W. J. Grambs 
being aopointed, and in 1905 v^as sold by the receiver to F. H. 
Osgood, v^ho, as contractor, had furnished the orginal electrical 
equipment and superintended its installation. Osgood continued the 
line to Renton, therebv giving Seattle its first interurban railway. It 
v^'as operated successfully by him until 1907, w^hen he disposed of it, 
and it later passed under the control of W. R. Craw^ford. On May 
20, 1912, the company again went into the hands of a receiver, Scott 
Calhoun and Joseph Parkin being appointed by the court, the former 
on May 20 and the latter on Ausrust 1 2 of the same year. It has not 
become part of the Stone &c Webster system and its ultimate fate 
was, in 1914, a point at issue betw^een the receivers and the city 
authorities. 

When Stone & Webster entered the Seattle field all the old com- 
panies were more or less involved in financial troubles. Built prima- 
rily to advance the real estate values, all of them were not good in- 
vestments from a traffic standpoint. Lack of money to maintain the 
roadbeds and equipment had seriously impaired their physical condi- 
tion. 

The Seattle Traction Company had been in the hands of a re- 
ceiver, had been re -organized and was being operated under the 
direction of the bond-holders. All cable railways, with the exception 
of the Madison and James Street lines, had been in the hands of 
receivers. The Third Street & Suburban Railway had been re- 
organized and separated from the mill property and also the lighting 
property, w^ith vv^hich it had formerly been operated. TTie former 
ow^ners, D. T. Dennv & Son, had lost all of their interest in this 
property, and W. J. Grambs was operating the property as manager, 
practically under the direction of the bond-holders. The Grant Street 
Railway had passed out of the control of Fred E. Sander and w^as 
practically in the hands of the former bond-holders. 

The West Street & North End Railway had gone into the hands 
of a receiver just prior to the transfer of its assets to the Seattle 
Electric Company. The Seattle City Railway Company also got into 
financial trouble, and had been in the hands of a receiver when it 
was finally taken over by the Seattle Electric Company, so that in 



Mr. Furth Completes Merger 117 

1910, when most of these properties were acquired by the Seattle 
Electric Company, or Stone & Webster interests, the only roads that 
had not been in the hands of receivers were the Madison Street Cable 
Railway and the Union Trunk Line. 

Various efforts had been made to consolidate the lines and give 
Seattle one system that would provide the people with a satisfactory 
service. As early as 1893 Mr. Griffith raised $1,000,000 in New 
York to effect a union of all the interests, both cable and electric, but 
the deal fell through owing to the opposition of Bailey Gatzert. All 
the others interested were satisfied, but Mr. Gatzert opposed the 
inclusion of one company that was not making money, and the con- 
solidation could not be effected without his stock. 

When it became known that the Stone & Webster interests de- 
sired to take charge of all the properties in Seattle and that the strong 
hand of Jacob Furth was directing the merger, the people expressed 
great satisfaction. Without Mr. Furth's untiring efforts and master- 
ful ability it is probable that the tangle would have proved impossible 
to unravel. With the assistance of J. D. Lowman, Mr. Furth ob- 
tained a blanket franchise for the consolidated roads from the City 
Council on March 9, 1 900. The following companies were in the 
original consolidation, the dates indicating the time they were ac- 
quired by Mr. Furth: 

Madison Street Cable Railway Company, January 1 9, 1 900. 

Union Trunk Line, January 1 9, 1 900. 

First Avenue Cable Railway, October 30, 1 900. 

Grant Street Electric Railway, October 30, 1900. 

Third Street & Suburban Railway, September 30, 1 900. 

Seattle Traction Company, November 5, 1900. 

West Street & North End Electric Railway, March 31, 1901, 

These lines had a mileage of 66J/2 miles. TTie Seattle Railway 
Company was purchased October 22, 1901, and Seattle Central 
Railway Company on March 1 , 1 902. TTieir total mileage was 1 I Y^ 
miles. These properties were all re-built, new equipment installed 
and the total mileage on March 1 , 1 902, amounted to 78 miles. 
Seven miles was abandoned and new mileage amounting to 24 miles 
buih, making a total of 95 miles of street railway at the end of 1903. 

In 1914 the street railway company had 197.7 miles of single 
track, covering 111.2 miles of streets, the difference in the two 
figures being accounted for by the double tracks which are in use 
over the greater portion of the system. Four hundred and seventeen 
passenger cars were in use. 



128 The City That Made Itself 

Those readers with a taste for statistics might find material for 
interesting reflection in a further excursion into figures. The Puget 
Sound Traction, Light & Power Company's vast interests in this sec- 
tion of the state are also shown by the same data. In the whole sys- 
tem — which includes the street railways in Seattle, Tacoma, Belling- 
ham and Everett, and the various interurbans — 492 miles of single 
tracks were operated over 337 miles of streets and other rights-of- 
way. The total number of cars was 1,073, of which 623 were pas- 
senger cars. The total number of employees in 1913 was 3,799, 
2,538 of them being on the Seattle division. The total number of 
passenger car miles operated during the year in Seattle was 
12,701,151, and for the entire system 20,231,067. Including the 
freight and work cars, the total number of car miles for Seattle was 
13,087,936, and for the entire system 21 534,221. In Seattle, pas- 
sengers were carried during 1913 as follows : Revenue passengers, 
76,726,857; transfer passengers, 23,431,345; free, 4,885,508, mak- 
ing a grand total of 105,043,508. The Seattle division, therefore, 
carried the equivalent of the entire population of the United States, 
and without a single fatality to a passenger. In fact the company has 
a record of not having a single fatality among its passengers from 
September 30, 191 1, to the present time (October, 1914). The total 
number of passengers carried on the entire system was 147,396,272. 

The current for the operation of the cars and lights in Seattle, 
Tacoma and Everett and the connecting interurbans comes from 
three great generating plants, on the Snohomish River, White River 
and at Electron. In order to provide for any contingency, four pow- 
erful steam plants are maintained, one each at Tacoma and Everett 
and two in Seattle. Despite the fact that the water power is so de- 
pendable that not one per cent of the current is generated annually by 
the steam plants, these are kept in readiness for instant action in an 
emergency. It is this state of constant preparedness that makes the 
company's service so perfect. 

The Stone & Webster interests have done a great deal for the 
Northwest, and for Seattle in particular, as the street railway system 
here is recognized as one of the best in the world. On a basis of 
population there are more car miles operated in Seattle than in any 
other city on the globe. The tremendous strides that the city has 
made in population since Mr. Furth first brought together the com- 
panies that made possible the entry of Stone & Webster in Seattle, 
has necessitated the expenditure of immense sums of money in addi- 
tions to the track and equipment, but the company has always kept 
even a little ahead of the demand. The efficiency of the company is 
due to the splendid organization which it has built up. Of Mr. 



A Capable Organization 119 

Furth's great value to it I have spoken elsewhere. Succeeding Mr. 
Furth, A. W. Leonard is head of the system, and A. L. Kempster, a 
resident of Seattle for over a quarter of a century, though still a 
young man, is manager of the Seattle division. Mr. Grambs became 
connected with the Stone & Webster interests when they entered 
Seattle and now holds the position of assistant to the president of the 
Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company. 



CHAPTER ELEVEN 



WHEN ELECTRIC LIGHTS WERE TURNED ON 



JAMES A. McWILLIAMS was having a terrible time with the 
wire that was to supply Seattle with its first electric lights. It 
w^as heavy copper wire, one-half inch in diameter and bare and, 
as it came in small coils, it was extremely hard to straighten. The 
trick of slapping it on the sidewalk to straighten the kinks was 
unknown then. An interested spectator of the construction work 
was Capt. Penfield, manager of the gas company, which the sup- 
porters of the new lighting system were cheerfully predicting would 
be put out of business w^hen they got under way. McWilliams had 
tried to straighten the wire with block and tackle, but could do noth- 
ing with it, so he put it up as it was. 

"Why don't you straighten it and make it go twice as far?" 
asked Penfield, who was quite persuaded that all the people con- 
nected with electric company were crazy. 

"Captain," replied McWilliams, "it is very evident that you 
know nothing about the habits of electricity. This new power 
never runs in a straight line; it zigzags, and the only way we can 
keep it on the wire is to have the wire zigzag with it." 

Captain Penfield could find no reply; it sounded reasonable, 
and as he knew nothing of the new light he had to be content with 
the explanation. 

It was in the spring of 1 886 that Seattle became interested in 
electricity as a light. S. Z. Mitchell, representing the Edison United 
Manufacturing Company, had come to Seattle and associated him- 
self w^ith F. H. Sparling. Together they organized the Seattle Elec- 
tric Light Company. J. M. Frink became president and other direc- 
tors were James A. McWilliams and John H. McGraw. The installa- 
tion of a small plant was begun in a board shack on Jackson Street 
between what is now Occidental Avenue and Second Avenue 
South. As was to be expected, the town took an extraordinary 
interest in the new discovery. They had heard of the "hairpins 
in glass bottles ' with v^'hich Edison was going to light the world, 
and were anxious to see if there w^ere any basis for his faith. 

In the spring of 1888 the installation of the plant was com- 
pleted and the stockholders, who had been called upon to advance 
more money than had been anticipated, were awaiting the fixing 
of the last connection with nervous dubiousness. During the night 

120 




i^-^^l.t^.-'i^^C,^ 



First Lights Tu rned On 121 

before the fateful day someone broke into the powerhouse when 
the workmen were absent and drove a cold chisel into the armature 
of the dynamo, completely putting the entire plant out of business. 
This necessitated a delay, but the injury was remedied, and on 
March I 6, 1 888, while the assembled directors and stock-holders held 
their breath, the switch was thrown in and Seattle saw its first electric 
lights. 

This was the first incandescent central station lighting plant 
west of the Missouri River. Previous to this time the only electric 
light plants in operation on the Pacific Coast were the Brush Street 
lighting plants in San Francisco, a plant in Portland and isolated 
plants in some of the sawmills on Puget Sound, notably the Port 
Blakely and Port Madison mills. 

The Seattle plant was successful from the start. A number 
of customers were found near the plant and the city used the sys- 
tems for lighting the streets as far as the power of the plant would 
permit. It being necessary to use the power for lighting only at 
night, a start was made to utilize it during the day for straight 
power purposes. 

The plant soon outgrew its quarters and early in 1 889 the 
first extension was made. A basement at the corner of Post and 
Seneca Streets was secured and two 250-light Edison incandescent 
dynamos and one 50-light Thomson-Houston machine were in- 
stalled. The new plant was next to that of the Seattle Ice Company, 
which was found convenient, as the electric plant needed a great 
deal of ice to keep the bearings of its machinery cool, lubrication 
not having reached its present state of perfection. 

In the fire of 1 889 the plant of the electric company was wiped 
out but it had been in operation long enough to demonstrate that 
the new lighting was feasible and preferable to either gas or oil, 
which had been relied upon in the past. The electrically driven 
street cars continued to operate during the fire, thereby further 
increasing the faith of the people in the reliability of the "juice." 
In the period of rehabilitation directly after the fire everyone 
wanted electric lights and the demand became so enormous that 
the company realized that in building a new plant it must build 
one of large enough capacity to take care of the business offered. 
Construction of the new plant was commenced on four lots at 
Eighth Avenue South and Charles Street. New equipment was 
ordered by telegraph and came by express. So rapidly did Mr. 
Prink and his associates work that within five weeks after the fire 
streets in Seattle were again being lighted by electricity. By 
the spring of 1 890, however, the plant was swamped with orders 



122 The City That Made Itself 

for service and the natural result of the extraordinary demand was 
the creation of an additional company to take charge of it. 

Dr. E. C. Kilbourne, at the time a practising dentist in Seattle, 
had been greatly interested in electrical development from its 
earliest inception, and he was a director of the first company that 
provided Seattle with its electric street cars, as is already related in 
a previous chapter. As the commercial field looked so promising 
early in 1890, Kilbourne decided that he would like to devote all 
his time to the power and lighting business, so Griffith purchased 
his interest in the traction company and the doctor was assured of 
that company's moral support in his particular field. 

It had already been demonstrated in Seattle that electricity 
could be used to supplant small steam plants. Directly after the 
fire Clarence Hanford, of Lowman & Hanford, decided that it 
would be desirable to get rid of the cumbersome and noisy steam 
engine which was used to run the presses which were installed in 
the rear of the store that was erected on the ashes of the old one. 
He had watched the street cars run along Second Avenue and was 
persuaded that the power that drove them should be able to turn 
the wheels in his plant. He went to Dr. Kilbourne and said he was 
willing to experiment if there was any way to do it. There was no 
power motor in the city, but Dr. Kilbourne had a five-horsepower 
lighting motor on hand and they decided that they would see 
what they could do with that. The doctor made the necessary 
changes and it was set up in the printing establishment after it 
had demonstrated its ability to run without a load. As the wires 
were being connected with the street car company's system Mr. 
Hanford was advised by his friends that he was making a great 
mistake; he was assured that electricity was all right to run cars 
out of doors, but to take it inside a building meant destruction for 
the building and electrocution for all those who approached the 
presses. Neither Hanford nor Kilbourne was much perturbed by 
these forebodings, although they were in no position to deny their 
plausibility, as they did not know themselves just how the povs^er 
would act. However, the pulleys vs^ere adjusted, the motor con- 
nected and the juice turned on while the crowd of doubters stood 
back at a respectable and safe distance. The wheels commenced 
to turn and in a most unromantic way the motor made good. It 
was a success from the first and it encouraged a large number of 
other people to equip their plants with the nevs^ pow^er. 

Dr. Kilbourne lost no time. He drew up an ordinance granting 
himself a franchise, furnished each alderman with a copy one 
Friday afternoon and that night asked the Council for the franchise. 



Kilborne's Rapid Progress 123 

At an adjourned meeting held the next Monday, March 4, 1 890, 
Kilbourne was given his franchise. He went directly from the 
Council chamber to the telegraph office and wired to the Thomson- 
Houston Company for an alternating current, thirty-five kilowatt 
dynamo. Next day he leased the old powerhouse of the Seattle 
Consolidated Electric Railway Company at the foot of Pike Street 
containing the original steam plant of the first trolley company, a 
1 25-horsepower boiler and a 1 00-horsepower high-speed Arming- 
ton & Simms engine. A contract for the pole line was at once let 
to Baker & Balch, electrical engineers and contractors, this being 
the first big contract of the newly created firm. 

Within sixty days after the granting of the franchise by the 
Council Dr. Kilbourne was delivering light in Seattle. In another 
thirty days he was furnishing power, a 250-volt direct current 
dynamo having been purchased and installed. A 1 20-kiIowatt 
alternator was added and a day and night circuit was started. The 
schedule of prices in that early day is interesting. There were no 
meters so the charges had to be made on a flat rate basis, $1.50 
per month for a sixteen-candlepower lamp burning from starting 
time — a little before dusk — until 1 : 30 P. M. The more reckless 
who wished to have use of their lamps until midnight were charged 
an extra 50 cents per lamp, and the totally abandoned who desired 
the lights on all night had to pay $3.00 per lamp per month. For 
such service as was required only during the day $2.00 per lamp 
per month was the charge. 

To increase the capacity of the plant more capital was required 
and Dr. Kilbourne organized the Pacific Electric Company, and 
C. P. Stone, W. J. Hughes, A. C. Balch and a few others became 
interested with him. This was in the summer of 1890. About 
that time the Seattle Electric Lighting Company was reorganized 
and absorbed by the Seattle General Electric Company. Mr. Frink 
continued as president of the new company but Henry Villard and 
Eastern associates had considerable stock in it. This same year 
— 1890 — showed great expansion of the electric lighting and 
power business, and from that time until ten years later, when 
the Stone & Webster interests took over all the companies, the 
history of the electric companies is almost as involved as that of 
the street railway companies. Development of electricity as a 
science went on apace and Seattle — the first city in the world to 
have a commercially successful electric car service, and the first 
west of the Missouri River to have a central station incandescent 
electric lighting system — kept fully abreast of this scientific pro- 
gression. 



124 The City That Made Itself 

While Dr. Kilbourne was equipping his plant Angus Mackin- 
tosh, then president of the Merchants' National Bank, organized 
the Commercial Electric Lighting Company and installed a plant 
in the Commercial mill, which he owned, at the foot of Marion 
Street. He had no sooner got running than he sold out to Dr. 
Kilbourne's Pacific Electric Lighting Company. In 1891 the Pacific 
Company, which had been conducted only as a partnership, incor- 
porated under the name of the Home Electric Company. On 
October 1 , 1 892, the Seattle General Electric and the Home Con- 
solidated as the Union Electric Company, which became the big 
organization to which Seattle looked for its principal supply of 
light until the Stone & Webster interests acquired a controlling 
interest in it in 1 899. As already related, it was through the 
purchase of the Union Electric Company's stock that the big 
Boston corporation got its first foothold in Seattle, W. J. Grambs 
having quietly acquired nearly all the stock in it for his Eastern 
principals before anyone else in Seattle was aware that the Stone 
& Webster people were even considering entering Seattle. 

The Union Electric Company, however, did not have the field 
to itself in its early days. In 1 892 the Rainier Power & Railway 
Company, owned by D. T. Denny, also engaged in the electric 
lighting business, confining its business to the territory in the 
vicinity of Pike Street. When the Rainier Power & Railway 
Company was reorganized after the receivership in 1 894, the 
lighting plant was sold to the Consumers' Electric Company, a 
corporation controlled by the Third Street & Suburban Railway 
Company. W. J. Grambs was the manager. On August I, 1895, 
this property was sold to the Union Electric Company. 

In 1 889 Judge Burke installed a plant in the Burke Building, 
corner Marion Street and Second Avenue, and engaged in central 
station lighting. This plant was acquired in 1 900 by the Seattle 
Electric Company. 

In 1 890, Watson C. Squire and N. H. Latimer installed a 
plant in the Squire-Latimer Building on First Avenue, near Jackson 
Street, and engaged in central station lighting, the company being 
known as the Domestic Steam Heat & Lighting Company. This 
plant was also acquired by the Union Electric Company in 1895. 

James A. Moore also installed a small plant in the Arcade 
Building on Second Avenue and supplied some of his neighbors 
with current. This plant was sold to the Seattle Electric Company 
in January, 1 903. 



Stone <& Webster Interests 125 

The Seattle Gas Company, which later became the Seattle 
Lighting Company, also operated a small electric lighting plant, 
which was sold to the Seattle Electric Company in July, 1903. 

Fred E. Sander in 1 890 established a small plant at Taylor's 
Mill on Lake Washington and the company was called the Wash- 
ington Electric Company. This plant was later moved dow^n to 
the gas w^orks and operated in connection with the small plant 
which the Gas Company had. Later, after Mr. Sander had built 
the Grant Street Electric Railway, he moved this plant to George- 
town and operated it from that point. The business of the com- 
pany was later sold to the Union Electric Company. 

As already stated, the first propertv that Stone & Webster 
acquired in Seattle was the old Union Electric Company; shortly 
thereafter this firm purchased the property of the Seattle Steam 
Heat & Power Company, on Post Street, near Yesler Way, and 
commenced the erection of a large powerhouse, w^here modern 
and up-to-date machinery was installed. In 1 903 Stone & Webster 
organized the Puget Sound Pow^er Company and constructed a 
large hydro-electric plant of 20,000 kilowatts capacity at Electron, 
on the Puyallup River, in the foothills of Mount Rainier. This 
w^as follovs^ed in 1 905 by the erection of a large steam pow^er 
plant at Georgetov^m with a capacity of 1 5,000 kilowatts. The 
power from this plant was used to supply the requirements of the 
Seattle Electric Company, the interurban railway between Seattle 
and Tacoma and the railways in Tacoma. In 1910 a large hydro- 
electric plant was constructed for the Pacific Coast Power Company 
at Dieringer, using Lake Tapps as a storage reservoir and taking 
water from the White River, near Buckley. 

In 1 898 Charles H. Baker, a civil engineer whose father was 
a prominent Chicago broker, designed and built a plant at Sno- 
qualmie Falls with a capacity of 6,000 kilowatts, and supplied 
power from this plant for lighting and power purposes in Tacoma, 
Seattle, and, later on, Everett. They also served a number of 
small towns adjacent to those cities. This plant was acquired in 
1911 by the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company, 
which also acquired at the same time all of the properties under 
the management of the firm of Stone & Webster. 

The Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company, of 
which Jacob Furth was president at the time of his death, controls 
and operates all of the light, power and railway properties in Bell- 
ingham, Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, also the interurban running out 
of Bellingham to Mt. Vernon, the interurban betvvreen Everett and 
Seattle, and the interurban between Seattle and Tacoma, and the 



126 The City That Made Itself 

interurban from Tacoma to Puyallup; the only exceptions being 
the municipal lighting plants of Tacoma and Seattle, the lately 
constructed municipal railway in Seattle, completed in 1914, con- 
sisting of about three miles of track running from Third and Pine 
to the south shore of Lake Washington Canal, near Ballard; the 
Lake Burien line, seven miles long, running from Spokane Avenue 
in a southerly direction to Lake Burien, and the Loyal Heights 
Railv^ay, incorporated March 24, 1 906 by Harry W. Treat and 
running cars over about two miles of tracks betv^^een Twenty-fourth 
Avenue Northwest and Sixty-seventh Street. 

In course of its civic expansion the municipal ownership idea 
became popular, so Seattle decided to go into the electric business 
as a public undertaking. The municipal system owes its existence 
largely to the efforts of R. H. Thomson, city engineer from 
1892 to 1911. He brought the need for such a plant, in order 
to secure the best and most economical street and municipal 
light, to the attention of Seattle's citizens. He was instrumental 
in securing the necessary state legislation and the incorporation in 
the city charter of the provisions which made it possible for the 
city to undertake this enterprise. As the outcome of his work in 
behalf of a municipal lighting and power system, the City Council 
submitted a bond issue to the voters of the city, who, on March 4, 
1902, decided in favor of the first issue of $590,000. The source 
of power was to be Cedar River and little time was lost in starting 
v/ork. The vs^ork on the first plant was finished in 1 904 and in 
January, 1905, the city took over the street lighting system, which 
had been operated prior to this time by the Seattle Electric 
Company. 

In 1 904, with the voting of another bond issue, this time of 
$250,000, the city undertook to enter the field of commercial 
lighting in competition with the private electric company. The 
first municipal light was furnished to homes and business houses 
in September, 1905. 

Rapid increase in the commercial business of the plant and 
consequent extension of light and power lines during the rapid 
growth of the city made immediate additions to the capacity of 
the generating plant necessary. For this purpose $600,000 in 
bonds was authorized by the voters on March 6, 1906. Further 
necessity of extending the distribution system to all parts of the 
city resulted in the voting of $800,000 more bonds on December 
29, 1 908. The nevv^ generators, w^ith nev/ pipe and transmission 
lines, were put into service in 1 909 w^ith a total available capacity 
of 10,400 kilowatts. In April, 1910, the lighting department was 



The City Lighting Plant 127 

made separate from the water department by charter amendment. 
The first superintendent of the new department was R. M. Arms, 
w^ho resigned in 1911 and was succeeded by J. D. Ross, the present 
superintendent. Mr. Ross had been electrical and constructing 
engineer of the plant from the time of its inception. 

In 1910 there appeared a demand for more power and it was 
planned to develop the Cedar River site to its full capacity by the 
use of a large concrete dam. On November 8, 1910, bonds to the 
amount of $1,400,000 were voted to carry this out, but work was 
not yet begun until 1912. The probability is that it will be finished 
by the end of the present year, 1914. 

To make sure of a future supply of pow^er adequate to the 
expected development of the city, two power sites, the Hebb site 
of White River, with 1 00,000 horsepower maximum, and the 
Cushman site in the Olympics, with 65,000 horsepower capacity, 
were recommended by the lighting department for the acquisition 
by the city. After a bitter campaign on the question bonds to the 
sum of $1,000,000 for the purchase of the Hebb site and $640,000 
for the Cushman site were authorized, the money to be devoted 
to the purchase of the sites if satisfactory arrangements could be 
made w^ith the ow^ners as to price and title. At the present time 
— 1914 — neither site has been acquired. 

The city had a 1 ,500-kilowatt waterpower generating plant 
on the shore of Lake Union, w^hich is fed by the overflow of the 
high service reservoir of the water department. It was finished in 
1912 and uses the waste water of the city water system. This 
serves the purpose of an auxiliary and is ready to take the place 
of the main plant in case of accident to the generating station. On 
March 4, 1913, bonds for a $425,000 steam plant of 10,000 
kilowatts capacity were voted. Construction on this unit is already 
under w^ay. 

Thus far the city lighting plant has an investment of more 
than $5,000,000, employs 240 men and does a business that approx- 
imates $900,000 annually. 



CHAPTER TWELVE 



FROM VILLAGE WEEKLY TO THE CITY DAILY 



NEWSPAPERS are a potent agency in the development of 
any community and no chronicle of the rise of Seattle 
would be complete without a review of the successive 
publications that played their part in the city's continued fight for 
existence. As today they sound the note of optimism that keeps 
the citizens ever on the alert to conserve the city's interests, so 
in the early days did they urge the settlers on to the fight and 
maintain the enthusiasm at a point that produced results. The 
many changes, failures, consolidations and new ventures reflect 
the struggles of the developing city. 

The first newspaper that carried a Seattle date line was 
published in 1853 in Olympia, by J. R. Watson. Olympia was a 
vastly more important town in those days than Seattle, but Watson 
must have had a premonition that this city would some day become 
great enough to repay the journalistic attention he so early devoted 
to it. It v^as not, how^ever, until ten years later, December 1 0, 
1 863, that a distinctively Seattle paper made its appearance. Wat- 
son had come to Seattle and established the Seattle Gazette. He 
had a Ramage press, similar to that with which Ben Franklin 
struggled when he issued his paper, and tradition has it that the 
press reached Seattle via Mexico and a leisurely jaunt up the 
Pacific Coast, consuming in all nearly half a century in making 
the entire trip. That it w^as made of good material was demon- 
strated when it outlasted the Gazette and was used successively by 
other publications, going out of commission in 1874, w^hen the 
Intelligencer, which then had it, discarded it in favor of something 
more modern. The Gazette office w^as in the second story of a 
wooden building on the site of the present hardware establishment 
of Schwabacher Brothers, on First Avenue, and owned by Henry L. 
Yesler. 

The Gazette was published spasmodically, Editor Watson 
bestirring himself only when there was news of sufficient im- 
portance to provoke an issue. When in 1 864 the telegraph put 
Seattle in touch w^ith the outside world and brought news of the 
Civil War over the wires to this outpost of civilization, there was 
feverish activity in the primitive newspaper office. The dispatches 
came collect, however, and before he could procure them Watson 
had to devote some time and energy to the financial aspect of his 

128 




TBL PEVELOPMCNT OF A CTNVON- ismm WP CHEIfTY ST FKDM FIB5T AVE. 



Intelligencer Appears 129 

calling. The usual mode of procedure was this: The telegraph 
operator would hunt up Watson, a task somewhat simplified by 
the sparseness of the population, and inform him that there was a 
war dispatch at the office. Watson would then call on Yesler, 
the Dennys, C. C. Terry, Boren and other opulent citizens, tell 
them of the dispatch and obtain from them enough money to pay 
the tolls. The message would be given to him, set in type and 
another issue of Seattle's first paper would make its appearance. 

In June, 1865, the Seattle Publishing Company took over the 
Gazette and Robert G. Head became the editor as well as the 
printer. The path was still rough, however, and in an effort to 
infuse new life into it I. M. Hall succeeded Head on February 1 6, 
1 866, but three weeks later the Geizette gave up the struggle and 
suspended. 

April 5, 1866, the Puget Sound Semi- Weekly made its 
appearance, with Hall & McNamara as publishers, and on April 
30, 1 866, things did not look quite so encouraging, so the name 
was changed to the Puget Sound Weekly. In August of the same 
year it w^as purchased by George Reynolds, who March 1 8, 1 867, 
sold out to I. M. Hall, who marked his re-entry into the publishing 
business by reverting to his first love and renaming the paper the 
Puget Sound Weekly Gazette. On May 27, 1867, the firm became 
Hall & White, but on June 17, 1867, Seattle again lost its news- 
paper, for Hall had been elected county auditor and the prospect 
of steady remuneration was so alluring that he allowed the publi- 
cation to die. 

In August, I 867, S. L. Maxwell, printer and writer, arrived in 
Seattle. The printing equipment had meanwhile become the 
property of Rev. Daniel Bagley and his son, C. B. Bagley, and 
from them Maxvs^ell bought it, agreeing to pay $300 for it some- 
time in the future. He lost no time in getting under vy^ay, and on 
August 5, 1867, published the first number of the Weekly Intelli- 
gencer, the paper that developed into the capable morning publi- 
cation that so loyally serves Seattle today. 

Maxwell's entry into the field removed a lot of the uncertainty 
from the newspaper situation, for it settled dov^^n then to a period 
of some prosperity and regular editions. The next transaction of 
interest was the purchase of the Intelligencer in 1 874 by David 
Higgins for the then very respectable price of $3,000. Two years 
later, in 1 876, the paper became a daily. In 1 878 Higgins sold the 
publication to Thaddeus Hanford, older brother of Judge Cornelius 
H., Clarence, and Frank Hanford, who still reside in Seattle. It 
was as general utility young man around the Intelligencer office 



130 The City That Made Itself 

that Clarence Han ford gained the experience that later enabled 
him to develop the extensive printing department of the Lowrman 
& Hanford Company, one of the greatest publishing houses west 
of the Mississippi River today. Thaddeus Hanford had been editor 
of the paper for several years during the ownership of Higgins 
and made it a power in the community. 

Meantime this daily paper was not the only occupant of the 
field. We must leave the Intelligencer and go back to the spring 
of 1 868, when T. G. Murphy brought a small printing plant from 
Sitka, where he had been publishing the Alaska Times. He began 
the publication of the Times in Seattle, but soon sold it to Mc- 
Namara & Larabee, w^ho in turn sold it to Wilson & Hall, who 
started also the Territorial Dispatch. In October, 1871, Beriah 
Brown and C. H. Larabee bought the plant, continued the paper 
for three months and on December 4, 1871, issued the first number 
of the Puget Sound Dispatch. In 1872 Brown's son, Edward H., 
succeeded Larabee and the firm name became Brow^n & Son. 

On September 19, 1872, Brown & Son published the first 
number of the Puget Sound Daily Dispatch, which was the first 
daily paper published on Puget Sound. It w^as an event of great 
moment in Seattle, for there w^ere older and more populous centres 
on the Sound, and Seattle felt that it was a distinct feather in its 
cap to be the first to take upon the peculiarly metropolitan luxury 
of a daily paper. In April, Austin A. Bell bought a half interest 
in the paper. 

A series of consolidations again took place, somewhat clari- 
fying the newspaper atmosphere. In 1875 the Pacific Tribune, the 
first paper published in Tacoma, was purchased by Thomas Prosch 
and moved to Seattle, where it was published for three years. In 
1 878 it was absorbed by the Intelligencer. In September, 1 878, 
the Puget Sound Daily Dispatch was consolidated with the Intelli- 
gencer by Thaddeus Hanford, Beriah Brown going on as editor. 
In October of that year the Post was started as a daily paper by 
K. C. and Mark Ward, who had been publishing the North Pacific 
Rural. By I 88 1 the Intelligencer had grown great enough to digest 
another mouthful, so it absorbed the Post, continuing under the 
name it bears today — The Post-Intelligencer. The paper pros- 
pered under the management of Mr. Prosch and in 1 886 was 
taken over by a stock company organized by S. L. Crawford, Dr. T. 
T. Minor, Thomas W. Prosch and Fred J. Grant. On November I , 
I 886, Leigh S. J. Hunt purchased the paper and placed it under the 
editorial management of Alfred Holman, and Stewart Smith became 



The P.-I.'s Strong Staff 131 

business manager, a position he held until 1 890, when he resigned to 
go into the real estate business, and was succeeded by C. A. Hughes. 

During the ownership of Hunt the Post-Intelligencer became a 
metropolitan paper. Prior to that time it had been conducted along 
the lines of the ordinary country newspaper. With the advent of 
Hunt, however, a change was made, and one of the best staffs that 
have ever v^^orked on a Seattle paper was gathered. Among those 
who v^ere responsible for the improvement of the paper which made 
it a povvrer in the Northwest w^ere: Edgar Piper, Joseph Levinson, 
Will H. Parry, John W. Pratt, Lucius R. Bigelow, Jabez B. Nelson, 
Hammond Lament, Fred J. Grant, George H. Heilbron, S. L. Craw- 
ford, C. T. Conover, R. C. Washburn, L. K. Hodges. 

Hunt's Seattle career was spectacular. He speedily proved 
himself to be what is known colloquially as a "live wire." Prior 
to the panic of 1 893 he became involved in the mining industry and 
many other large enterprises, and the panic found him with his 
affairs so tangled that he could no longer hold the paper, which 
was taken over in May, 1 894, by a company composed of 
John Hoge, of Zanesville, Ohio; James D. Hoge, his nephew; 
George Heilbron and Frederick J. Grant. James D. Hoge repre- 
sented both his uncle and himself, and although not much more 
than a youth at the time, proved quite a successful newspaper 
publisher. A strange fatality, however, seemed to pursue the 
editorial end of his paper. Grant, in September, sailed on the ship 
Ivanhoe for a vacation; the ship v^^as lost and all on board were 
drowned. Heilbron succeeded Grant as editor, and in April, 1895, 
died. The next editor was John W. Pratt, w^ho had not served long 
before he resigned. R. C. Washburn then became editor. Mr. Hoge 
conducted such a strong fight on the Populists in 1 896 that a mob 
of them assembled beneath his office window during the campaign 
and cheered him with vocal assurance that they vs^ould hang his body 
on a sour apple tree. As Mr. Hoge today is the successful president 
of a large and successful financial institution — the Union Savings and 
Trust Company — neither the decimation of his editorial force nor the 
threats of the politically excited people apparently had any harmful 
effect on him. 

The paper became a power in the politics of the state and this 
led to its sale by Mr. Hoge to a group of Spokane people who 
wished to acquire influence in public affairs on the western side of 
the mountains. The transfer was made in September, 1897. 
George Turner was at the head of the Spokane group and Edgar 
B. Piper and George U. Piper, of Seattle, joined forces with him, 
Edgar becoming editor and George business manager. Edgar 



132 The City That Made Itself 

Piper — now (1914) editor of the Oregonian, of Portland — main- 
tained the paper at a high editorial level, but Mr. Turner did not 
feel inclined to continue in the publishing business, so in the fall 
of 1 899 asked E. C. Hughes and Maurice McMicken, then, as 
now, law partners in Seattle, to find a purchaser for the paper. 

The Post-Intelligencer then entered upon one of the most 
interesting periods of its career and brought into increased promi- 
nence a man who made a deep impression on the public affairs 
of the state — John L. Wilson, of Spokane. In the campaign of 
1 896 James J. Hill, anxious to keep the politics of the state as 
w^ell in hand as possible — as was the method of railways at the 
time — sent $10,000 to Mr. Wilson to use in the interests of the 
Republican party. Mr. Wilson sent the money back and with it a 
letter stating that the state was surely going Populist and that to 
spend the money would merely be to waste it. This somewhat 
startled Mr. Hill, who had often spent money to assist the political 
party w^hich he favored, but who, up to that time, had never 
received any of it back. He thanked Wilson and was so impressed 
with the honesty of the Spokane man that he said in his letter, "If 
an occasion ever arises when I can do anything for you, let me 
know." 

There was no relation between this letter and the action of 
Messrs. Hughes and McMicken, but they decided that Wilson 
might be able to handle the paper, and telegraphed him asking if 
he cared to purchase it for $400,000. At that time the extent of 
Mr. Wilson's resources were so far short of the amount named 
that he treated the telegram as a good joke and in that light show^ed 
it to A. P. Sawyer, who was then his secretary. Sav/yer, however, 
saw possibilities ahead and persuaded Wilson to telegraph James J. 
Hill that the time to do something for him had arrived. Sawyer 
wrote the telegram and Wilson signed it w^ith so much misgiving 
that Sawyer had no sooner left the office to send it than Wilson 
started in pursuit of him to recall it. Sawyer, however, had antici- 
pated such action, for he had small confidence in the lasting power 
of his persuasive eloquence, and did not go to the telegraph office 
that Wilson expected him to, but sent the message from the depot. 
Wilson arrived at the telegraph office and upon being assured that 
Sawyer had not yet called, remained there all afternoon, until he 
became persuaded that Sawyer had seen the futility of trying to 
interest Hill and had decided not to send the telegram. 

Next morning Wilson received the greatest surprise of his 
career in the shape of a telegram from Mr. Hill stating that the 
money would be forthcoming. The purchase was made by an 




T..e «--"-C:;»,-.L^r^ ^^^l;:;-^ -;>l„<-e. . .^^._ .......... 



Taylor and Bone Buy P.-I. 133 

Eastern financial corporation underwriting $400,000 of 6 per cent 
bonds, redeemable at the rate of $20,000 per annum for twenty 
years. Mr. Wilson took charge of the paper December 1 , 1 899. 
J. G. Pyle became editor and S. P. Weston business manager. In 
September, 1 903, Mr. Pyle resigned and Horace McClure directed 
the editorial end of the paper until January 1 , 1 904, when Erastus 
Brainerd became editor. Mr. Brainerd continued in the position 
until September 1 , 1911, when he w^as succeeded by Scott C. Bone, 
the present editor. Mr. Brainerd proved to be a forceful editor, 
and while he was in the editorial saddle he conducted many cam- 
paigns with a vigor that made its impress on the history of the city. 

On August 1, 1912, A. S. Taylor, at that time one of the 
most prominent and substantial men of Everett, and Scott C. 
Bone purchased the control of the Post-Intelligencer. The paper 
is nowr the sole occupant of the morning field in Seattle and is the 
only publication having the seven-day Associated Press franchise. 
Before he came to Seattle Mr. Bone was one of the most promi- 
nent nev/spaper men in the East and he has maintained the Post- 
Intelligencer on a dignified but enterprising plane. Mr. Taylor's 
business policy has cleansed its advertising columns of anything of 
a dubious nature and has made the paper one that Seattle has 
reason to be completely satisfied with. Beriah Brovs^n, Jr., whose 
name runs through the newspaper history of Seattle since its early 
days, is one of the editorial writers on the Post-Intelligencer, and 
T. J. Dillon, one of the most polished w^riters in the Northwest, is 
managing editor. 

Having foUow^ed the history of the Post-Intelligencer until 
the present day, we can now^ go back and pick up the milestones 
that mark other activities that were contemporaneous with the 
incidents related above. 

In 1881 Kirk C. Ward, W. M. Beach, Judge R. Andrews and 
Beriah Brown, Jr., started the Chronicle, first as an evening paper 
and later as a morning daily. It did not gain the necessary sup- 
port and was subsequently acquired by Homer M. Hill. In the 
early eighties there was great activity in the newspaper field, and 
the Herald, Call, Finback, Bulletin and Mirror were among the 
papers that were started. Fortunes were sunk in an endeavor to 
make them self-supporting. Only the Call survived. In the sum- 
mer of 1 883 some leading citizens raised a large sum of money to 
subsidize the Daily Times to counteract the Call, which was so 
violently anti-Chinese as to become unpopular with the solid inter- 
ests of the city. The Times was conducted by T. H. Dempsey and 
J. R. Andrews, and after the subsidy had ceased it w^as continued 



134 The City That Made Itself 

by Dempsey alone until March, 1887, when he sold a half interest 
to Col. George G. Lyon. 

In 1 886 Homer M. Hill, owner of the Chronicle, acquired 
control of the Call and united the two papers as the Seattle Press, 
daily and weekly, and in I 889 sold the Press to the Press Publish- 
ing Company, in which the majority of the stock was held by 
W. E. Bailey — who subsequently built the Bailey Building, now 
the Railway Exchange — who made S. R. Frazier editor. E. 
Brainerd, a newspaperman from Philadelphia, succeeded Frazier 
as editor. In February, 1891, the Press and Times, both evening 
papers, united under the name of Press-Times. During these years 
business in Seattle was none too good and the papers had a hard 
struggle for existence. Their circulation was not great and the 
amount of advertising carried in their columns ^vas not sufficient 
to make the financial side of the ventures anything but a source 
of worry to the owners. 

In 1 895 Alden J. Blethen came to Seattle from Minneapolis, 
purchased the Press-Times and soon made his personality felt in 
the newspaper world. In 1 897 the steamer Portland came out of 
the North with its story of the golden Klondike and Colonel Blethen, 
who had shortened the name of the paper to the Seattle Daily 
Times, took advantage of the opportunity presented by the new 
prosperity which Seattle experienced and built up his publication 
until today it is one of the best newspaper properties in the West. 
In the work he has been ably assisted by his son, Joseph Blethen, 
manager of the Times Printing Company. Another son, C. B. 
Blethen, the managing editor, is largely responsible for the excellence 
of the Times as a newspaper. 

On April 30, 1 888, the Enterprise was started but ran only 
a month, as there did not seem to be enough Democrats in Seattle 
to keep it going, its announced adherence to the cause of Democracy 
not producing enough financial returns to make its continued 
existence possible. In the same year Alexander Begg and Edmond 
S. Meany started the Trade Journal, which became the Journal 
when it was taken over in the spring of 1 890 by John Leary, 
W. H. Lewellyn, B. F. Shaubut and others. In 1 89 1 it was ab- 
sorbed by the Telegraph, which had been first issued on August 1 1 , 
1 890, by Judge Thomas Burke and D. H. Gilman to carry on the 
railroad fight which Seattle was waging. The undertaking proved 
a failure from a money-making standpoint and publication was 
suspended. 



One Hundred Publications 135 

In 1883 Die Tribune was started in Seattle. It was printed 
in German and was the first paper to be printed in the state in 
any foreign language. 

In 1899 E. H. Wells founded the Seattle Star, the firm name 
being E. H. Wells & Company, E. W. Scripps, now the controUing 
spirit of some scores of daily publications in all parts of the United 
States, being the company. E. F. Chase became business manager. 
Sixteen months after the paper started the Star Publishing Com- 
pany was organized by its ow^ners. The Star then, as it does now, 
fought the battles of the so-called "common people" and achieved 
extraordinary success. Under Mr. Wells it became a power polit- 
ically and has continued to wield great influence in the affairs of 
the city and county. In 1 909 Mr. Wells sold his interests in the 
paper and was succeeded as editor by Kenneth C. Beaton, who 
resigned in 1911, since which time Leroy Sanders has been editor. 

Mr. Wells having given Seattle one successful evening paper, 
decided in 1912 to duplicate the performance. He organized the 
Sun Publishing Company, among whose stockholders were Law- 
rence J. Colman, John P. Hartman, T. S. Lippy and H. W. Treat, 
and on February 3, 1913, the first issue appeared. The birth of 
the Sun was somewhat remarkable, for it started with a circulation 
of 40,000 and an advertising patronage that gave its first number 
the appearance of a long-established paper. Mr. Wells has con- 
tinued as the editor of The Sun, which is notable for its cleanliness 
and enterprise. In 1914 S. P. Weston assumed the business 
management. 

Today Seattle has approximately 1 00 regular publications, 
great and small, and serving almost every profession, trade, cult 
or creed, and many different nationalities. Its two most prominent 
weeklies of general circulation are the Town Crier, published by 
James A. Wood and E. L. Reber, and The Argus, published and 
edited by H. A. Chadwick. Mr. Wood is one of the most pungent 
and graceful writers in Seattle, and the Town Crier possesses an 
editorial strength not surpassed by any other publication in the 
city. The Lumberman, founded by C. A. Hughes, who still con- 
trols it, is one of the most meritorious and prominent monthlies, 
and the Pacific Fisherman, owned and edited by Miller Freeman, 
is an able champion of the fishing interests. The Railway and 
Marine News, founded by J. P. Parkinson and now under the 
editorial management of Kenneth C. Kerr, is another trade journal 
that holds a high place in the transportation world. 



136 The City That Made Itself 

Among the men who have been identified with the newspaper 
history and life of Seattle, and who are now devoting their atten- 
tion to other lines of endeavor, are the following: 

Stewart E. Smith, Thomas W. Prosch, Clarence Bagley, S. L. 
Crawford, E. W. Pollock, C. T. Conover, Charles Pye Burnett, 
Will H. Parry, E. B. Wishaar, Geo. U. Piper, C. M. Nettleton, C. B. 
Yandell, Will T. Elwell, E. A. Williams, Frank M. Sullivan, A. T. 
McCargar, E. A. Batwell, A. F. Marion, W. M. Sheffield, Erastus 
Brainerd, W. T. Prosser, Will A. Steel, Gilbert Smith, Ray L. 
Hodgdon, N. B. Solner, James D. Hoge. 



CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



THE SCHOOLS OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY 



WHEN the early pioneers of Seattle started to build the city 
that was to be, they did not long forget that intellectual 
development of the community must go hand in hand 
with material progress, that the building of well-rounded mental 
structures was essential if the other should endure and grow^. In the 
days of struggle against a primitive environment, hitherto un- 
touched by human hands, there was little time or thought for the 
more scholastic things. Homes had to be w^rought out of the 
stubborn forests, land had to be cleared and tilled to provide the 
bare necessities, and life, indeed, was a survival of the fittest. 

No sooner did the sturdy pioneers of Seattle get their homes 
established and their course of life laid out, than they began to 
think of their children's needs for school and books. It is charac- 
teristic of the high mental caliber of the men and wromen w^ho 
constituted this first settlement on Elliott Bay, that they made 
Seattle a real educational center from the start, a center of intellec- 
tual life that has persisted from year to year v^ith increasing grov^^th 
until today the Queen City boasts as fine a system of public schools, 
as enterprising a university and as magnificent a library as is to 
be found in the older and larger cities of the East. 

When Seattle was getting started there was any amount of 
work for the boys, so much, in fact, that it was considered wiser 
to keep them at it than to educate them with their sisters. The 
enrollment of the first school opened in Seattle contains the names 
of thirteen girls and but one boy. Even eight years later the girls 
still outnumbered the boys, as in 1862 there were fifteen girls 
between six and sixteen years of age going to school in Seattle 
and nine boys. 

The first building used for school purposes in Seattle was 
erected in 1 853 by W. G. Latimer as a general boarding house and 
domestic center for the bachelors of the city. It was referred to as 
Bachelor's Hall. Latimer, himself a bachelor, came to Seattle 
when there w^ere only seven white men in it, and being somewhat 
of a carpenter, did his share towards building up the community, 
rie returned East, married in 1 860, served through the war, and 
again in 1 882 yielded to the impulse that was alvs^ays strong in 
him to return to the* Puget Sound country. Preceding him on this 

137 



138 The City That Made Itseli 

occasion came his son, N. H. Latimer, now president of the Dexter- 
Horton National Bank, the oldest bank in the State of Washington. 
Within one year after its erection as a home for bachelors young 
Latimer's building was being used as a school for educating girls. 
Mrs. (Rev.) D. E. Blaine opened school in it in the spring of 1854, 
the parents of the children contributing towards the support of the 
institution. The first enrollment was: 

Mary Mercer, Susan Mercer, Alice Mercer, Eliza Mercer, Ursula 
McConnaha, George McConnaha, Laura Bell, Olive Bell, Virginia 
Bell, Rebecca Horton, Louisa Denny, Nora Denny, Hilda Phillips, 
Ruby Willard. 

The school lasted only three months, and in the succeeding 
Fall, 1 854, there is no record of any school being open in Seattle. 
In that year Dr. H. A. Smith was appointed by the Legislature as 
superintendent of schools for King County. In 1855 Mrs. Blaine 
taught during the spring term, and from that time until the present 
the efforts to educate the children of Seattle have been continuous. 
Mrs. Blaine was succeeded by teachers in their order as follows: 

Dorcas Phillips, E. A. Clark, Edmund Carr, David Graham, 
Addie Andrews, Daniel Bagley. With the exception of Clark, who 
built his own school and called it the Terminus, all the teachers 
held their classes in the Latimer building. 

In 1 862 the University building was first used for school 
purposes, Mrs. O. J. Carr holding classes there for three months 
with the following pupils enrolled: Rebecca Horton, Eugenia Mc- 
Connaha, Loretta Denny, Eunice Russell, Jane Wetmore, Mary 
Boren, Gertrude Boren, Christine DeLin, Mary DeLin, Eva An- 
drews, Inez Denny, Mary J. Denny, Mary White, Ettie Settle, 
Louisa Coombs, Wm. R. Andrews, Robert G. Hayes, George Man- 
chester, John B. Libby, Anders F. Delin, Wm. Boren, Frank Wet- 
more, Charlie Clark, Joe Crow. 

It was not until 1870 that there was erected in Seattle the 
first school building proper. It was a two-story structure and was 
called the Central School. Miss L. W. Ordway was the first prin- 
cipal, her staff being composed of Mrs. C. M. Sanderson. Other 
principals in their order until 1875 were Miss Phelps, Mrs. A. A. 
Mackintosh, Mrs. L. W. J. Well, J. H. Hall and E. S. Ingraham. 
In 1872 two lots were purchased from school purposes in the north 
end of the town from A. A. Denny and the next year two lots in 
the southern part of the town were purchased from Thomas Clancy. 
In 1873 buildings were erected; the South School was opened by 
Miss Mary Tibbell, assisted by Miss Mary Smith, and the North 
School by Miss Lizzie Clayton and Miss Agnes Winsor. In 1 876 



'Let's Have a School Boom" 139 



it was found necessary to open another school, Belltown, which is 
now First Avenue, the vicinity of Battery and Bell Streets being 
selected as the location. 

Each new school provided only temporary relief as the city 
continued to grow so rapidly that the education of its children was 
always jeopardized by the lack of facilities. Finally, on January 4, 
1882, occurred the first wide-spread movement to get the whole 
school system of Seattle down to a permanent basis. At a meeting 
in Yesler's Hall Judge Thomas Burke, Judge J. R. Lewis, William 
H. White, and Judge Orange Jacobs made speeches in which they 
presented the case to the citizens, and as a result of the meeting a 
committee visited Portland and investigated the school system there. 

On April 1, 1882, the people by a vote of 345 for to 97 
against voted to levy a tax of $24,000 for the erection of a large 
school, and from that day until the present time the voters of the 
city have ever been ready to hold up the hands of its school direc- 
tors. Politics has never found a place in school affairs, as the edu- 
cation of the children is a matter of such importance that "let the 
schools alone!" has always been the cry when there has been any 
suggestion of tampering with the system. To the fact that the 
board is an unsalaried one, and members serving on it must of 
necessity be prompted only by a desire to serve the public when 
they accept the office, is largely due the high state of perfection 
which our school system has attained. The directors have always 
been men of the highest integrity. The earliest board I can find 
record of was that of 1867, when D. R. Lord, D. T. Denny and 
R. W. Pontius were members. When the "school boom" was inaugu- 
rated in the early '80s Judge Thomas Burke was a member of the 
board. The "school boom" sentiment that carried the bond election 
in 1 882 derived its name from a remark made by Judge Lew^is in 
addressing the mass meeting referred to above, "We have had 
saloon booms and real estate booms, and now, for God's sake, 
let's have a school boom! " 

It was in 1 884 that the school system had grown great enough 
to have a city superintendent, E. S. Ingraham holding that office. 
His first annual report for the year ending June 26, 1885, gives 
the school board as composed of Judge Burke, chairman; Dillis B. 
Ward and Henry G. Struve, with Angus W. Young as school clerk. 
The total enrollment of the city schools was 1 ,478, and by this 
time the boys w^ere running the girls a closer race, there being 701 
boys and 777 girls. A high school course had been added and to 
prepare the class that was to graduate in June, 1886 — the first 
high school graduating class in Seattle — an entertainment was held 



140 The City That Made Itself 

at the end of the school year of 1884-5. Pierre P. Ferry, now a 
prominent attorney, delivered an oration on "The Fall of the Glad- 
stone Ministry." 

Also in that first printed report is notice of a standing resolu- 
tion to the effect "That the principals of each school building be 
directed by the city superintendent to prohibit the playing of any 
game of marbles on or about the school premises during school 
hours." Possibly as a sop to the boys whose pursuit of pleasure 
was curbed by the anti-marble resolution the next rule reads: "That 
the use of the raw^-hide as a means of inflicting corporal punish- 
ment is hereby forbidden by the board." The resolutions are signed 
by M. Densmore as chairman of the board and Thomas Burke and 
D. B. Ward members. 

In 1 889, when the district organized under a new act, the 
present organization went into effect. The first board was com- 
posed of Judge John P. Hoyt, George H. Heilbron, Wm. H. Hughes, 
J. M. Frink, W. H. Taylor. Judge Hoyt was chairman. 

Under the new organization members were elected for a three- 
year term and it became the custom for one of the directors who 
was to retire to serve as president of the board the last year of his 
term, hence the following have served at various times in that 
capacity: J. M. Frink, W. H. Hughes, W. J. Colkett, J. B. Mac- 
Dougall, A. P. Burwell, C. E. Patterson, E. C. Hughes, Dr. F. H. Coe, 
John Schram, E. Shorrock, F. M. Guion, Edmund Bowden, William 
Pigott, Everett Smith, F. A. McDonald, and Richard Winsor. 

Other prominent citizens w^ho have served as members of the 
Board of Directors include Judge George Donworth, Judge J. T. 
Ronald, Dr. W. A. Shannon, John B. Agen, J. E. Galbraith, Rev. 
Edw. Lincoln Smith, Chas. L. Denny, Dr. G. V. Calhoun, C. J. 
Smith, Geo. H. King, T. W. Prosch, Dr. T. T. Minor, Judge Thos. 
Burke and D. B. Ward. 

The superintendents for the same period were : E. S. Ingraham, 
Julia E. Kennedy, F. J. Barnard (served eleven years), and Frank B. 
Cooper (13 years). Secretaries: Mrs. H. A. Havs^thorne, H. E. 
Whitney, F. D. Ogden, A. A. Guernsey, Lyman Banks (4 years), 
and Reuben W. Jones (12 years). Of the present members of the 
board, Mr. Shorrock has served twelve years, Mr. Pigott five years. 
Judge Winsor three years. Messrs. Spencer and Eckstein, one year 
each. 

There are at present (1914) eighty permanent school buildings 
in the district, and the physical valuation of the property belonging 
to the district exceeds $6,500,000. 





A View of Pioneer IMnce in 1890 and as It Liiolf»i in IDU. 



Tribute to Pioneers 141 

Enrollment in the various years shows the growth of the 
schools: 1885, 1,478; 1894, 5,314; 1904, 18,077; 1914, 34,925. 

In 1914 the school organization was: Board of Directors, 
Richard Winsor (president), E. Shorrock (vice-president), George 
A. Spencer, William Pigott, Nathan Eckstein; Reuben W. Jones, 
secretary; C. P. Middleton, assistant secretary; Frank B. Cooper, 
superintendent; assistant superintendents, Frank E. Willard, Edw^ard 
G. Quigley, Almina George. 

The city is fortunate in its board and the board in its executive 
officers. Mr. Jones has kept his finger on the pulse of the organiza- 
tion and a great deal of the success of the schools from a business 
standpoint is due to his executive ability. In Superintendent Cooper 
Seattle has an educator of national reputation. 

It has been the custom of the Seattle School Board to perpetuate 
the names of some of those Seattle citizens who have served the 
schools well. Among the schools in Seattle in 1914 were the follow- 
ing, named after former members of the Board: John B. Allen, 
Daniel Bagley, Frantz H. Coe, B. F. Day, J. J. McGilvra, F. A. Mc- 
Donald, and T. T. Minor. The Colman, Denny, Mercer, Van Asselt 
and Whitworth schools will also perpetuate the names of some of 
the early families. 



CHAPTER FOURTEEN 



HOW THE UNIVERSITY CAME TO SEATTLE 



SEATTLE must always be the educational center of the state on 
account of the presence here of the University of Washington. 
Like everything else that has come to Seattle, the University 
is the spoils of war, for in the days when its location was being 
decided upon there were other communities anxious to get it, and it 
was only after the energy, enterprise, and ingenuity of Seattle citi- 
zens were brought into play that the prize was secured for the little 
community. The capture of the University must always be reckoned 
as a factor in the upbuilding of Seattle, for it was with the enthu- 
siasm born of their successful struggles that the settlers aroused 
themselves when setting out to conquer other worlds. Each victory 
strengthened the resolve of Seattle and gave it heart to continue the 
fight. 

In 1 854 the Act of Congress creating the Territory of Washing- 
ton allotted two townships (72 sections) of land for university pur- 
poses, but despite the energetic fight made by different localities to 
secure the prize the Legislature made no immediate selection of a 
location. In the following year — 1855 — the Legislature designated 
Seattle as the university town, but granted Boisport, Lewis County, 
a branch institution. In 1855 this act was repealed and the "Cowlitz 
Farm," in Lewis County, selected as the site. Seattle was busy with 
its Indian troubles and took little interest in the university question. 
In 1 860 there were only twenty families here, and the problem of 
recovering from the Indian troubles was sufficiently engrossing to 
occupy the attention of the heads of the families. In 1 86 1 , however, 
Joseph Foster took up the university matter actively and, backed by 
Daniel Bagley, Arthur A. Denny and their fellow townsmen, made an 
energetic fight for another repeal of the act of the Legislature and a 
new decision in favor of Seattle. 

At that time there seemed little likelihood of a university ever 
being built up and the question of deciding on a site -was more or 
less of a joke. Foster used the argument that Seattle and the Sound 
county might just as well be the official university site again, for a 
time at least, and the Legislature was kindly disposed towards the 
idea. So another act was passed, this time requiring Seattle to 
donate ten acres of land for a site. Daniel Bagley, John Webster 
and Edmund Carr were named as commissioners. Of these Bagley 
was chosen chairman, and the principal share of the work devolved 

142 



Denny Gives the Land 143 

on him. He was a recent arrival, coming in 1 860 from Illinois, 
and at the time of his first connection with the University was the 
only clergyman in the town. 

It commenced to look as if the selection of Seattle as the loca- 
tion of the University were going to be final. Stirred up by Bagley, 
the people began to see the importance of being the center of educa- 
tion of the state in fact, in addition to official designation as such. 
Arthur A. Denny offered ten acres of land on his "north line." To- 
gether with Bagley he set out to mark off the land, but so dense was 
the undergrowth that he gave up in disgust. 

"Bagley," said Denny, "I'll give it on the knoll," and he waved 
his hand in the direction of what is now the center of the Metropol- 
itan Building Company's operations, and after 1895, until a few 
years ago, one of the recognized landmarks, known as the "Old 
University Grounds." 

When an effort was made to lay out the site on the knoll it was 
found that there were only eight-and-a-half acres that readily lent 
itself to a proper division, so C. C. Terry (father of Ed. L. Terry, 
now the city treasurer) gave one-and-a-half acres for himself and 
Judge Edw^ard Lander. There was no money available for building 
purposes, but that mattered little to the enthusiastic men who were 
behind the enterprise. The University's only asset w^as land, and 
in lieu of money it was used to pay the laborers. The land was 
valued at from $275 to $417 per acre, and the rate of wages varied 
from $2.50 to $4.50 per day. The sale of a tract of land at Port 
Madison to Meigg's Mill for $25,000 enabled the University to 
secure all the lumber it needed. Some of the names on the Univer- 
sity payroll were: Hillory Butler, L. B. Andrews, Lemuel J. 
Holgate, James J. Crow, Ira Wooden, O. C. Shorey, O. J. Carr, 
Thomas Mercer, David Graham, D. B. Ward, A. S. Pinkham, C. B. 
Bagley, John Pike (for whom Pike Street was named). 

In I 862 the main building, the president's office and a boarding 
house were complete, and a very impressing group they made. The 
town w^as exceedingly proud of them, and w^hen Mr. Bagley, by the 
sale of University lands, turned over to the University, in addition 
to the buildings, $23,000 in cash, he was acclaimed as a citizen of 
which the community might well feel proud. 

At first the main University building was used merely as a 
school, with A. S. Mercer as the first principal, assisted by Mrs. U. 
Calhoun, and it was not until 1876 that it turned out its first grad- 
uating class as a regular university. In the class there was but one 
graduate, still living, Mrs. Clara McCarthy Wilt, of Tacoma. 



144 The City That Made Itself 

The University's faculty at that time was composed of Rev. 
George F. Whitworth, F. H. Whitworth and Miss Mary Thayer. 

Shortly after statehood, in 1 889, the necessity of a much larger 
university site became apparent. Commerce was surging to the foot 
of the hill upon which the seat of learning stood, and it v^as realized 
that there was no room for the expansion that the growing popula- 
tion and prosperity indicated would soon be forced on the Univer- 
sity. At that time the city and county were considering the estab- 
lishment of a great park on a fractional section of school lands on the 
shores of Lake Washington, and that this section w^ould become an 
ideal site for the University was readily admitted as soon as the sug- 
gestion was made. The city and county champions of a park got in 
behind the idea and things moved rapidly. Armed with the neces- 
sary authority by the Legislature, Governor John H. McGraw, in 
1 900, bought in the fractional section for the University when it was 
placed on sale by public auction. The erection of the buildings was 
commenced forthwith and on September 18, 1895, the University of 
Washington opened classes on its present site of approximately 350 
acres, one of the most magnificent locations in the world for an 
institution of learning. The staff at the time of the transfer to the 
new location v^as: 

Mark Walrod Harrington, President; Thomas Milton Gatch, 
Professor of Political and Social Science; Joseph Marion Taylor, 
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy; Ellen Jeannette Cham- 
berlin. Professor of English Language and Literature; Mark Bailey, 
Jr., Professor of Ancient Languages; Charles Hill, Professor of 
Biology; John Louis Hayden, Lieutenant, U. S. A., Professor of Mil- 
itary Science and Tactics; Edward John Hamilton, Professor of 
Mental and Moral Science and Oratory; Adolph Frederic Bechdolt, 
Professor of History and Anglo-Saxon; William Franklin Edwards, 
Professor of Physics; Henry Landes, Professor of Geology and Min- 
eralogy; Henry Coffinberry Meyers, Professor of Chemistry; Charles 
Francis Reeves, Professor of Modern Languages; John Henry 
Wholley, Lieutenant, U. S. A., Professor of Military Science and 
Tactics; Florent Constant, Instructor in French; George Millard 
Davidson, Instructor in Latin and Greek; Martha Lois Hansee, In- 
structor in Ancient Languages; John Haan, Instructor in Mathe- 
matics and German; Edmond Stephen Meany, Registrar; Orson 
Bennett Johnson, Curator of the Museum; Henry Havelock Hind- 
shaw. Curator of the Museum; Trevor Charles Digby Kincaid, 
Laboratory Assistant in Biology; Daniel Ellis Douty, Laboratory 
Assistant in Physics; Thomas Warner Lough, Laboratory 
Assistant in Chemistry; Marion Edwards, Clerk to the Registrar; 




Tliird and I'niun With I lie Old I'liiverNity in tlit* Left Itiii-kground. 




Third and I'nion in 1914; the I'oHtoffice In Foreground. Post-Intelligeneer Building Beside II; White, 
Henry and Cobh Buildin^tD of the Metropolitan Building Company ui the Background. 



Exposition Provides Buildings 145 

Francis Ell Burnham Smith, Assistant in the Library; Carrie Odell 
Wilmire, Assistant in the Library. 

The enrollment numbered three hundred and ten. 

In 1909 the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle's only 
attempt at a world's fair, and a highly successful attempt from every 
standpoint, was held on the University campus, and provision was 
made by the Legislature that most of the money spent on it by the 
state should go into permanent buildings that could subsequently 
become part of the University's plant. When the fair was over the 
University found itself in possession of a wonderfully improved 
campus and about twenty new buildings. Meanwhile the growth of 
the institution was remarkable and the additional space was so 
quickly filled that the necessity of additional buildings again faces 
the state. 

The principal buildings of the University are Bagley Hall 
(named after the "father" of the University), Denny Hall (named 
after Arthur A. Denny), Science Hall, Library, Observatory, 
Gymnasium, Armory, Engineering Building, Forestry Building, two 
dormitories, and Meany Hall, the last mentioned being the magnifi- 
cent building erected for the exposition to become the University's 
auditorium when the fair was over. It was given its name in 1914 
by the Board of Regents as a mark of appreciation of the value to 
the University of Prof. Edmond S. Meany, an alumnus whose work 
for his alma mater has been one of the potent forces in its upbuilding. 

The successive presidents of the University were : 1 86 1 , Asa 
Shinn Mercer; 1863, William Edward Barnard; 1867, Rev. George 
F. Whitworth; 1870, John H. Hall; 1872, Edgar K. Hill; 1874, F. 
H. Whitworth, Miss Mary Thayer, joint acting presidents; 1875, 
Rev. George F. Whitworth; 1877, A. J. Anderson; 1882, Leonard 
Jackson Powell; 1887, Thomas Milton Gatch; 1895, Mark W. Har- 
rington; 1897, William Franklin Edwards; 1897, Charles Francis 
Reeves (acting president); 1898, Frank Pierpont Graves; 1902, 
Thomas F. Kane; 1914, Henry Landes (acting president). 

In 1914 the heads of the principal departments were : 

Orson Bennett Johnson, Professor Emeritus of Zoology; Henry 
Landes, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Dean of the College 
of Science; Edmond Stephen Meany, Professor of History; J. Allen 
Smith, Professor of Political and Social Science, and Dean of the 
Graduate School; Caroline Haven Ober, Professor of Spanish; 
Almon Homer Fuller, Professor of Civil Engineering, and Dean of 
the College of Engineering; John Thomas Condon, Professor of 
Law, and Dean of the School of Law; Horace G. Byers, Professor of 



146 The City That Made Itself 

Chemistry; Trevor Kincaid, Professor of Zoology, and Director of 
the Puget Sound Marine Station; Frederick Morgan Padelford, Pro- 
fessor of English; Milnor Roberts, Professor of Mining Engineering 
and Metallurgy, and Dean of the College of Mines; Arthur Sewall 
Haggett, Professor of Greek, and Dean of the College of Liberal 
Arts; Frederick Arthur Osborn, Professor of Physics, and Director 
of Physics Laboratories; William Savery, Professor of Philosophy; 
David Thomson, Professor of Latin; Charles Willis Johnson, Pro- 
fessor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Dean of the College of 
Pharmacy; Pierre Joseph Frein, Professor of French; Theodore 
Christian Frye, Professor of Botany; Robert Edouard Moritz, Pro- 
fessor of Mathematics and Astronomy; Carl Edward Magnusson, 
Professor of Electrical Engineering; Harvy Lantz, Professor of Law; 
Everett Owen Eastwood, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Fred- 
erick William Meisnest, Professor of German; David Connolly Hall, 
Director of Physical Training; Elmer James McCaustland, Professor 
of Municipal Engineering; Isabella Austin, Dean of Women; Rev. 
Herbert Henry Gowen, Professional Lecturer on Oriental History, 
Literature and Institutions; Oliver Huntington Richardson, Professor 
of European History; George Seaverns Cole, Professor of Law; Ivan 
Wilbur Goodner, Professor of Law; Walter Greenwood Beach, Pro- 
fessor of Social Science; Irving Mackey Glen, Professor of Music, 
and Director of Fine Arts; Charles Church More, Professor of Civil 
Engineering; Henry Kreitzer Benson, Professor of Industrial Chem- 
istry; John Weinzirl, Professor of Bacteriology; Hugo Winken- 
werder. Professor of Forestry, and Dean of the College of Forestry; 
Vernon Louis Parrington, Professor of English; Frederick Elmer 
Bolton, Professor of Education, and Dean of the School of Educa- 
tion ; Edwin John Vickner, Professor of the Scandinavian Languages ; 
Edward Eugene McCammon, First Lieutenant, U. S. A., Professor 
of Military Science and Tactics; Edwin Augustus Start, Director of 
the University Extension Division. 

Administrative officers: Henry Landes, Acting President; 
Herbert Thomas Condon, Bursar; Edward Noble Stone, Recorder; 
William Elmer Henry, Librarian. 

In the Spring of 1914 the enrollment of the University was 
3,340. 



CHAPTER FIFTEEN 



ACQUIRING THE PARKS AND BOULEVARDS 



NATURE has been lavish in bestowing gifts on Seattle. Scenery 
of surpassing grandeur leads the eye over hills and quiet 
water to snow-capped peaks which frame the picture that the 
city makes. Two fresh-water lakes lie among the hills within the 
city, another skirts her eastern border for thirty miles, and from her 
western limits the salt water of the Sound carries the view to distant 
wooded shores which lie at the feet of tow^ering, jagged mountains. 
In such a setting, and v^rith a climate that encourages the growth of a 
multitude of flowers and shrubs, Seattle should ultimately be the 
most beautiful city in the world. Already she has taken long strides 
along the path that will lead her to this distinction, and if the com- 
prehensive scheme of park and boulevard extension which has been 
mapped out is backed by the architects, builders and home-owners of 
the city, her progress will be still more rapid. Throughout the world 
cities now^ recognize that the development of the aesthetic possibili- 
ties of communities not only is of value to the people of the commu- 
nities but also has a distinct commercial advantage, in that it attracts 
both tourists and permanent population. Particularly is this true of 
cities in the Pacific Coast states of the United States, where thou- 
sands of people settle each year to escape the rigors of the Middle 
West and Eastern climates. 

Early in her career Seattle realized the importance of parks. In 
1 884 David T. Denny and his wife presented what is now Denny 
Park, a beautiful tract 4.78 acres in extent, to the city. At that time 
the first park board was appointed, its members being D. T. Denny, 
R. J. Graham and J. B. Metcalfe. For just twenty years the board 
existed, with many different members, but little progress in park 
development was made on account of the system under which the 
board worked. It was the football of the political game played by 
the City Council, which had the board in its power by virtue of the 
fact that the Council could vote as much or little money as it willed 
for park purposes. Many good men accepted places on the board 
and did their best to be of service to the city, only to grow^ discour- 
aged by the attitude of the Council. 

In 1 904 the people asserted themselves. Led by several public- 
spirited citizens, an agitation for the divorce of the Park Board and 
the City Council was begun, but with no effect on the City Council, 
which refused to submit the proposal to the voters of the city. This 

147 



148 The City That Made Itself 

difficulty was overcome by the preparation of an initiative petition 
which forced the Council to allow^ the people to vote on the matter, 
and in 1 904 the city decided by an overwhelming vote to enter upon 
a comprehensive plan of park development. 

A concrete proposal had been presented by J. C. Olmsted, one 
of the foremost landscape architects of America, who, in the winter 
of 1903-1904, had spent some months in Seattle studying the city's 
park and boulevard possibilities from every angle. His recommenda- 
tions, which were accepted by the city and are still being carried out, 
favored providing a park or playground within half a mile of every 
residence in the city, as opposed to developing a few large parks in 
more remote localities. These neighborhood or community parks 
have been established all over the city and for the most part are con- 
nected with one another by the remarkably attractive boulevard sys- 
tem which is also part of the Olmsted plan. It is proposed to have 
fifty miles of scenic driveways w^ithin the city limits, skirting the 
shores of the lakes, follow^ing the high ridges to provide a view^ of 
mountain and water, and winding in and out among the parks. 
Twenty-five miles of these boulevards had been completed by the 
beginning of 1914 and the work is being carried on steadily. 

The result of the board's activity in the past decade has been 
to provide Seattle with more and better recreation facilities than any 
city of twice her size in America. Park statistics amply prove the 
truth of this assertion. To do this involved a cash outlay by the 
people of five million dollars, four millions of w^hich was raised by 
bond issues and one million by taxes. So much faith have the people 
in the personnel of the board, and so imbued are they with the desire 
to promote the work that was developing so capably before their 
eyes, that they have never refused to provide any funds which the 
board asked for. TTie amendment to the City Charter which marked 
the emancipation of the Park Board provided that I per cent of all 
licenses, fines and fees should go to the park fund, also not less than 
three-fourths of a mill of each annual tax levy. The dates and 
amounts of the bond issues were: 1906, $500,000; 1908, 
$1,000,000; 1910, $2,000,000; 1912, $500,000. 

Nearly one million dollars of this money has gone to provide 
playgrounds upon which grow^ing Seattle can grow healthy. It is 
impossible to estimate the value these playgrounds are to Seattle, 
but the people of the city, who paid for them, w^ould cheerfully sub- 
scribe many times the amount to retain them were such a step nec- 
essary. So much importance, in fact, has been attached to this 
branch of the board's activities that new sites are now in process of 
acquisition in addition to the twenty-five, ranging in size from a city 



Purpose of Field Houses 149 



block to thirty acres, with which the board entered upon its 1914 
operations. In all, there are 205 acres of land within the limits of 
Seattle devoted to the sole purpose of providing healthy bodies and 
cheerful minds for the little citizens who some day will use both 
bodies and minds to the advantage of the city that is now developing 
them. 

A feature which the Seattle Park Board is developing is the con- 
struction and maintenance of field-houses in various parts of the city. 
In no way can I better show the scope of the work along this line 
than by quoting from the last annual report of the board, prepared 
by the capable secretary, Roland Cotterill. In referring to the South 
Park Field-House, Mr. Cotterill says: 

"The basement is given over to boiler and fuel rooms, store- 
rooms and janitor's quarters. On the main floor a social hall occu- 
pies the center of the building, with the directors' office and check- 
rooms facing thereon, while on either side are the boys' and girls' 
shower-rooms, locker-rooms, toilets, etc., with a club-room attached to 
each section. The social hall serves as a reading-room and game- 
room. The entire second floor is given over to the combination gym- 
nasium and auditorium, with double stairways leading up from the 
social hall, also separate stairways from the dressing-rooms and 
shower baths on the main floor. 

"The auditorium is forty by sixty feet, exclusive of the stage 
and dressing-rooms, which are modern in every respect, being fitted 
with full scenic and electrical equipment for dramatic entertainments. 

"This type of building makes possible the practical working out 
of the social center idea and has something to attract and interest the 
people of the community regardless of age. The social hall and club- 
rooms afford an opportunity for reading and playing games. The 
shower baths are open for the free use of all, whether in connection 
with gymnasium work or not. The gymnasium is equipped with 
modern apparatus, and trained instructors conduct classes for people 
of all ages, boys and girls and men and women ; in fact, an institution 
of this kind aflFords a community athletic club service free of cost. 

"The auditorium is available without cost for improvement club 
meetings, socials, musicals, literary or dramatic entertainments, danc- 
ing parties, etc., in fact any proper function except religious or polit- 
ical meetings, the only requirement being that users must be an 
organized or responsible group, and no admission fee can be charged. 
On account of the long rainy season in Seattle, recreation buildings 
of this type make possible the continuance of supervised playground 
work during the winter, the activities shifting from the playground 
to the building." 



150 The City That Made Itself 

Contemplation of what Seattle is now doing, as Mr. Cotterill's 
report shows, makes interesting the reflection that there are still 
living here people who were residents of the city when the popula- 
tion was less than one hundred. The beach upon which Seattle's 
earliest settlers landed is now given over to public bathing, the Park 
Board having acquired it in 1910. The city's beach is 2,500 feet in 
length. It already has a substantial bath-house and other facilities 
for bathers and spectators. During the hot summer days it is the 
Mecca for thousands of people. A broad walk has been constructed 
and provides a delightful promenade. This affords an excellent illus- 
tration of what the city's public-spirited park commissioners are 
doing for the health and recreation of its citizens. 

The five million dollars w^hich Seattle has spent in the purchase 
of parks and boulevards does not by any means represent the total 
value of its holdings, considering even that they are worth no more 
now than when acquired. To this total value must be added that of 
the tracts that have been donated at various times to the city by 
some of its public-spirited citizens. Seattle's first park is the one 
located at Denny Way, John Street, Dexter Avenue and Ninth 
Avenue North. This w^as donated to the city in 1 884 by D. T. 
Denny and wife. At the time it was on the outskirts of the town 
and was known as Seattle Cemetery. The first work of Seattle's 
original park commission, consisting of D. T. Denny, R. J. Graham 
and J. B. Metcalf, was the removal of the bodies from this park to 
the tract just north of Volunteer Park. While Denny Park is per- 
haps the most beautiful of all the parks in the city, the fact that it is 
in the road of the regrade (it is now ninety feet above grade) means 
that it will soon be obliterated or remade at a lower level. 

One of the parks, consisting of more than thirteen acres, which 
was donated to the city is Colman Park, the gift of the J. M. Colman 
estate. This is located on Lake Washington, between Plum and 
Holgate Streets, and extends up the hill to Thirty-first Avenue South. 
In 1 907 Charles Cowen presented to the city a beautiful park of eight 
and one-half acres. This is located at Fifteenth Avenue Northeast, 
in the University Heights section. It is one of the best kept and 
most beautiful in the city. 

In 1887 Mr. and Mrs. George F. Dearborn gave to the city a 
five-acre park located on the ridge west of Hillman City. This is 
still in its wild natural state and remains to be developed when the 
population in that section grows to a point where it will be needed 
for recreation. 

Denny-Blaine Park, in the Denny-Blaine Addition, on the 
Madrona car line, on the hill just above Lake Washington, was 



Parks Given to City 151 

donated to the city by the Denny-Blaine Land Company. It is the 
center of a district which has some of Seattle's most beautiful homes. 
Its area is a little less than three acres. 

A beautiful tract of land overlooking Lake Washington, called 
Frink Park, was donated to the city in 1 906 by J. M. Frink, who was 
one of the most active members of the Park Board for many years. 
It comprises more than fifteen acres. Its view and setting are de- 
lightful and it is now being made easy of access to the city's boule- 
vards. 

One of the best known of all the recreation spots in the city is 
Kinnear Park, located on the west slope of Queen Anne Hill. It is 
one of the oldest parks in Seattle, having been donated to the city in 
1887 by George Kinnear and wife. It is a place of remarkable 
beauty and has an unsurpassed view of the city, Sound and moun- 
tains. It is also one of the most popular parks in the city, due to its 
easy access. It contains fourteen acres of land. 

Lakeview Park, on Blaine Boulevard, between East Thomas and 
East Harrison Streets, consisting of two acres of land, was donated to 
the city in 1 908 by J. C. Ford. The city enlarged it by purchase of 
adjacent property. 

A three-acre park, called Lincoln Beach Park, situated on the 
waterfront in the Fauntleroy district of West Seattle, was dedicated 
to the city by the owners of surrounding property. It is not as yet 
developed, but, with its 500 feet of frontage on the Sound, will make 
a fine salt-water park. 

But the largest of all the parks that have been given free of cost 
to the city is Schmitz Park, located on the West Seattle peninsula 
near Alki Point, a half mile back from the Alki Bathing Beach. A 
tract of thirty-eight acres was donated to the city by Ferdinand 
Schmitz and wife in 1908. Mr. Schmitz was then and is now a 
member of the Seattle Park Board. Schmitz Park is the most beau- 
tiful of all the natural parks in the city and is conceded to be the 
most remarkable park of its kind within the limits of any city in the 
United States. It has great trees and all the vegetation that is char- 
acteristic of Western Washington, together with many ravines and 
brooks. It is conceded to be "a nature lover's paradise." 

Park Board perfection has been built up in Seattle by the unsel- 
fish labor of many men. A leader in the agitation that resulted in 
the board being put on a satisfactory basis in 1 904 was E. F. Blaine, 
and he did more than any other one man to provide Seattle with the 
splendid system of parks and boulevards it now possesses. Mr. Blaine 
will go down in history as the "father of the park system," and the 



152 The City That Made Itself 

system itself will be a monument that should forever remind Seattle 
of its obligation to him. Charles W. Saunders, J. E. Shrewsbury, J. 
T. Heffernan, A. B. Ernst and Edward C. Cheasty also rendered 
invaluable service, Mr. Cheasty's lamentable death in 1914 being a 
distinct loss to the board, as he made it a practice of visiting parks in 
all parts of the world to improve his knowledge as to what was best 
for Seattle. The work of Austin E. Griffiths in connection with the 
playgrounds was one of the great factors in securing for the children 
of the city the magnificent open spaces w^hich are now devoted to 
their physical development and mental stimulation. Not only for the 
magnificent gift of a park to the city, but for his years of labor as a 
commissioner, should Seattle be grateful to J. M. Frink. For forty 
years Mr. Frink had been a leading citizen and a useful one. He 
established the Washington Iron Works in 1 883 at a time in the 
history of the city w^hen it badly needed industries, and his prudence 
and foresight were aWays at the command of his neighbors. 

It is perhaps invidious to pick out of such a strong list one of 
the men who served on the board in the early days, but I would like 
to make the name of W. E. Bailey something a little more substan- 
tial than a memory, for he ■was the first man to suggest a comprehen- 
sive park system for Seattle. During the eighties Bailey was a force 
in the city. He built the Bailey Building immediately after the fire 
and gave C. W. Saunders, his architect, instructions to make it one 
of the most imposing structures in the Northwest. This was at a 
time when it required nerve and great faith in the future of Seattle 
to justify such an investment. In 1 890 Bailey indicated on a map 
the corner of Second Avenue and Pike Street and expressed the 
belief that it would be the most important retail center of the city in 
the future. At that time stumps stood on the lots that now bear the 
structures v^hich prove the wisdom of his prophecy. Also in 1 890 
he bought Bailey peninsula for $20,000 and offered it to the city for 
the same figure, declaring then that Seattle would ultimately have to 
acquire it; and when she did she paid $200,000 for it. When Bailey 
became a member of the Park Board he commenced work at once 
for the acceptance by the city of some comprehensive parking 
system, the development of w^hich could commence in a small way 
then and keep pace with the capability of the city to finance it. He 
engaged E. A. Schwagerl, a landscape gardener, to make the plans 
of such a system and paid for the w^ork out of his private resources. 
The plans were never adopted, but when, a score of years later, the 
city realized the necessity of having a comprehensive system, Olm- 
sted vindicated the w^isdom of Bailey by making plans that followed 
very closely the old ones of Schwagerl. 



1 



Members of Park Board 153 

The 1914 board was composed of Ferdinand Schmitz, president ; 
Ritchie M. Kinnear, Otto Roseleaf, George B. Lamping, Erastus 
Brainerd. 

Those who have served the city as park commissioners from 
1884 to 1913 are: D. T. Denny, C. M. Sheafe, Daniel Jones, W. E. 
Bailey, B. E. Bennett, F. F. Randolph, Herman Chapin, W. R. 
Andrews, A. T. Lundberg, C. W. Saunders, C. J. Smith, J. E. 
Shrewsbury, J. B. Metcalf, G. O. Haller, W. E. Burgess, Otto Ranke, 
W. H. White, J. H. Ryckman, J. D. Lowman, Andrew Knox, Melody 
Choir, E. F. Blaine, J. W. Clise, J. C. Ford, R. J. Graham, W. E. 
Boone, Abram Barker, C. W. Lawton, C. M. Evans, T. N. Haller, 
T. M. Green, C. D. Williams, T. H. Cann, C. E. Fowler, C. H. Clark, 
J. T. Heffernan, J. D. Trenholme, A. B. Ernst, J. M. Frink, E. C. 
Cheasty, Ralph C. McAllaster. 

The department officials of the board in 1914 were : J. W. 
Thompson, superintendent; F. L. Fuller, assistant superintendent; 
H. L. McGillis, chief engineer; H. A. Hanson, attorney; J. Howard 
Stine, director of playgrounds; Roland W. Cotterill, secretary. 



CHAPTER SIXTEEN 



CHAMBER OF COMMERCE A FIGHTING FORCE 



THE men who build a city have their deeds chronicled after them 
by biographers and historians; their personality and character 
are accentuated in the minds of their fellow citizens by achieve- 
ments they have attained. The man of character who builds is rea- 
sonably assured of recognition for his work. 

But what of the man whose civic pride and loyalty leads him to 
fuse his personality with that of many other men for the common 
good? Of such men and by them Seattle w^as made. Always, since 
the first landing at Alki Point, have the men of Seattle stood together 
with the determination to build a city that should one day be queen 
of all. First, in the early days, they fought the Indians to protect 
their homes and families; then they worked side by side to provide 
the necessities to give them life, and finally came the struggle for 
their civic existence. And it is in the latter case that the real unsel- 
fishness of Seattle's pioneers came most into being. 

At first, as of necessity in a more or less primitive settlement, 
the efforts for the common weal were far from organized. But the 
advent of each emergency, always a matter of defense, was met with 
a united front, and in the face of what must seem defeat the pioneer 
citizens of Seattle worked as one. Soon the settlement grew. The 
community took form. It became a town. Even yet the watchword 
was defense, but a newer spirit entered in — the motif of aggressive- 
ness, the determination that the community must grow, must get the 
things that should give greater comfort and better living to the pop- 
ulation. And thus the stand-together spirit gave rise to a civic 
organization. It was called the Chamber of Commerce; the found- 
ing of which marked the beginning of the metropolitan life of 
Seattle. Without the existence of the Chamber it is doubtful if this 
city would be half as far along on the way to being a world city as 
she is today. 

It was in the year I 882 that Seattle, by the acts of these loyal 
citizens who elected to work for her good without pay or praise, cast 
off her sw^addling clothes. And the metamorphosis was as sudden as 
it was sure. James P. Ludlow, a Baptist preacher by profession, but 
occupied as clerk of the Territorial court, had prospered in a financial 
way and decided to devote a portion of his time to missionary work 
on Puget Sound. In a spirit of devotion and piety he built a smadl 

154 



After the Mastick 155 

ship, which he named Evangel, to take him and his associates to the 
nooks and corners of the Sound and facilitate his vs^ork among the 
Indians. In an effort to combine worldly profits with heavenly pros- 
pects he secured in 1 882 the contract for carrying the Alaska mail 
between Port Townsend and Sitka, Alaska, w^ith service once a 
month. Prior to this the mail had always gone from Portland or San 
Francisco. The latter cities, alive to their welfare, resented this 
interference with one of their advantages and took steps to have the 
routing changed. They urged that the Evangel was not sufficiently 
seaworthy for the ocean trip. The inspectors who had to decide if 
the Evangel were equal to the task of conveying the mail safely to 
Alaska had their headquarters in Tacoma, a fact that did not reassure 
Seattle to any great extent, for at that time the Northern Pacific was 
overlooking no opportunity to block any movement that might be 
of assistance to Seattle. The contract was to go into effect on a 
Monday and Seattle was quite proud of the fact that she had taken 
the plum away from Tacoma. On the Saturday afternoon preceding, 
John Leary went to Judge Burke's office. 

"Tom," said Leary, "I think the Northern Pacific got in some of 
its work with the inspectors. Anyway, Ludlow's boat has not passed 
inspection and we have to get something else to commence carrying 
the mail, and we have to have it by Monday morning." 

"What do you want me to do?" asked Burke. 

"You know John W. Ackerson, don't you?" asked Leary. 

"Very well," replied Burke. 

"Then I want you to come with me to Tacoma and procure his 
tug, Mastick. It is the only boat on the Sound that the inspectors 
could not refuse to pass. We will take Ludlow's boat out of the 
water and make it seaworthy enough to circle the globe, but mean- 
while we will lose the contract if we do not get Ackerson's tug by 
Monday morning. Come on." 

Leary and Burke just caught a boat sailing for Tacoma, but 
when they arrived there they found that Ackerson was at his farm 
somewhere near Puyallup. 

"We will have to take horses and ride out," announced Burke. 

"Tom," said Leary, impressively, "not to save a contract for 
carrying all the mail in the world, not if Ackerson would present me 
with his boat for nothing, would I ride to his farm. I rode a horse 
once and that was enough. You will have to go alone." 

Burke went alone, and it was after 10 o'clock of a wild and 
wet night when he mounted his horse for the return trip to Tacoma. 



156 The City That Made Itself 

He could not see his horse's head, much less the road, so he made no 
effort to guide its movements. It was an animal of spirit, and it 
had been held in the stable without its evening meal, so it decided to 
get back to its livery stable home in the shortest possible time. 
Burke was satisfied that he could ride as fast as the horse could run, 
so he settled himself in the saddle and let 'er rip. It was a great ride. 
Burke had the sensation of great speed and could feel that the animal 
was eating up the road with long strides that brought her belly almost 
to the ground, but he could see nothing and at no stage of the jour- 
ney except its ends did he have the remotest idea where he was. 
Covered with mud, wet to the skin, he at last pulled up at the livery 
stable, vs^here he was informed by its irate keeper that he had almost 
ridden to death a race horse which he had in training for some 
approaching meet, and which an addle-pated stable attache had 
rented by mistake. 

Burke added two dollars to the charge for the horse. "When 
she starts in a race, no matter how many or how speedy contestants 
she is to meet, bet that on her for me. I don't know if you know 
how fast she is, but I do," and from inside his mud-covered garments 
he extracted a written order for the Mastick, and he and Leary went 
to the dripping waterfront to find the boat that saved the mail con- 
tract — Seattle's first faint finger sent out to slumbering Alaska — for 
the city both of them worked so hard to serve. 

TTiose among Seattle's citizens who had her interests at heart 
realized that the substitution of the Mastick for the Evangel was only 
temporary and that after the gospel ship had been altered to meet the 
demands of the inspectors there would be further need of civic vigi- 
lance or another excuse for injuring Seattle's interests would be 
found. By this time, too, Seattle was growing, and assuming such 
proportions that need was felt for some organization whose duty it 
would be to serve the city w^hen such issues as that of the mail con- 
tract presented themselves. There was a feeling already manifested 
that some day Alaska's trade would be worth a great deal to the city 
that secured it, and Seattle did not propose to allow^ any of its rival 
cities to gain it without a struggle. It is interesting to note, in view 
of its long and consistent fight for the development of Alaska, that 
the Chamber of Commerce was brought into being for the specific 
purpose of promoting closer relations between Seattle and the 
Northern possession. Mixed w^ith this desire v^as unquestionably the 
spirit of antagonism towards Tacoma. At that time the feeling 
between the two cities was so intense that one would fight for what 
the other wanted purely for the love of fighting and thwarting its 
enemy. There were undoubtedly some people in Seattle then who 



The Chamber Organizes 157 

did not share the opinion that Alaska's trade would some day be 
worth something, but they were willing to get in and work enthu- 
siastically to retain the mail contract, the fact that Tacoma wanted 
it being the only incentive necessary for the enlistment of their serv- 
ices. The important thing, how^ever, is that an organization was 
effected, and it accomplished the most immediate cause of its exist- 
ence by making a fight at the national capital that resulted in the 
Ludlow^ mail contract matter being finally settled in favor of Seattle. 

On the evening of April 17, 1882, twenty-three of the city's 
most prominent men gathered in the office of McClure & Taylor, in 
the old Butler Building, on James Street. These twenty-three men 
comprised Seattle's first Chamber of Commerce, the organization 
that is today the chief factor in the civic and commercial upbuilding 
of the city. 

Those who attended the first meeting were: Henry L. Yesler, 
Joseph R. Lewis, Orange Jacobs, John Leary, Angus Mackintosh, 
Alfred Snyder, George W. Harris, Z. C. Miles, James Campbell, 
John J. Post, Corliss P. Stone, Samuel C. Woodruff, Samuel Kenny, 
W. A. Jennings, Samuel Frauenthal, Judge Thomas Burke, W. H. 
Taylor, J. C. Haines, Bailey Gatzert, C. B. Bagley, John Collins, H. 
G. Struve and F. W. Wusthoff. TTie first officers were: J. R. Lewis, 
president; Bailey Gatzert, vice-president; C. P. Stone, recording 
secretary; Thomas Burke, corresponding secretary. 

From the moment that this spirit of aggressiveness took root in 
the city in the organization of the Chamber of Commerce, Seattle 
has gone ahead by leaps and bounds. No influence has had more to 
do with the development of the city. Always well organized, with 
men of judgment and power at its head, it has worked effectively, 
though unostentatiously, and none but some of the men who have 
been with it through all the years know how much the city owes to 
its efforts. Today the Chamber is a powerful organization, and the 
same spirit of loyalty permeates it that prevailed when Missionary 
Ludlow's contract was endangered. 

The list of presidents of the Chamber of Commerce is an honor 
roll of Seattle citizenship. Each man who filled the office gave 
largely of his time to promote the welfare of the city, and to each of 
them is due the tribute that should be accorded self-sacrifice for the 
public good. The men who held the office, and their terms, were: 

J. R. Lewis, 1882-1884; Bailey Gatzert, 1884-1890; John 
Leary, 1 890- 1 89 1; Jacob Furth, 1891-1892; E. O. Graves, 1892- 
1900; J. W. Clise, 1900-1904; John Schram. 1904-1905; John H. 
McGraw, 1905-1909; J. D. Lowman, 1909-1912; J. E. Chilberg, 



158 The City That Made Itself 

1912. At the end of his first term in 1913 Mr. Chilberg was unan- 
imously elected to succeed himself. 

Of scarcely less importance than the men who filled the highest 
office in the Chamber were those who acted in the capacity of secre- 
tary, for upon them often devolved the chief work. In the order of 
their incumbency they were: 

Thomas Burke (corresponding), 1882-1884; C. P. Stone (re- 
cording), 1882-1884; T. T. Minor (corresponding), 1884-1886; 
Roswell Scott (recording), 1884-1886; E. M. Carr (recording), 
1886-1888; C. H. Kittinger (secretary), 1889-1890; Walter Ely 
(secretary pro tem.), 1890; J. W. Dodge, 1890-1893; L. W. Thomp- 
son, 1893; Wm. H. Whittlesey, 1893-1895; Tracy H. Robertson, 
1895-1896; Ernest E. Ling (acting), 1896-1898; J. H. Shively, 
1898-1899; Thos. W. Prosch, 1899-1901; James B. Meikle, 1901- 
1906; C. B. Yandell, 1906. 

In 1914 the full list of officers of the Chamber were: 

J. E. Chilberg, president; E. F. Sweeney, vice-president; J. C. 
Slater, vice-president; James D. Hoge, treasurer; C. B. Yandell, sec- 
retary; Roy O. Hadley, assistant secretary. Board of trustees: F. 
W. Baker, Alfred Battle, A. J. Blethen, Scott C. Bone, J. S. Brace, 
Thomas Burke, J. E. Chilberg, J. W. Clise, Josiah Collins, J. F. 
Douglas, D. E. Frederick, J. S. Goldsmith, Joshua Green, J. T. Hef- 
fernan, James D. Hoge, A. E. Knoff, A. W. Leonard, J. D. Lowman, 
Frank McDermott, Will H. Parry, S. H. Piles, Perry Poison, J. C. 
Slater, C. J. Smith, E. F. Sweeney, Park Weed Willis. 

Bureaus and departments: Alaska, Scott C. Bone, chairman; 
Charities Indorsement, Park Weed Willis, chairman; Commerce and 
Statistics, J. D. Lowman, chairman; Exhibits, E. C. Hughes, chair- 
man; Publicity and Industrial (conventions), A. J. Blethen, chair- 
man; Taxation, Perry Poison, chairman; Transportation, J. S. Gold- 
smith, chairman. 

Standing committee chairmen: Arbitration, Justice and Peace, F. 
W. Baker; City Affairs, Joseph Blethen; County Affairs, Alfred 
Battle; Finance, C. J. Smith; House, C. M. Nettleton; Logged-off 
Lands and Irrigation, Howard A. Hanson; Mercantile Affairs, D. E. 
Frederick; Membership, J. A. Swalwell; National Affairs and Legis- 
lation, Thomas Burke; Progress and Prosperity, J. C. Slater; Rivers 
and Harbors, J. S. Brace; Reception, Josiah Collins; State Affairs 
and Legislation, A. S. Taylor. 

It was under the presidency of Mr. Chilberg that the Chamber 
somewhat startled the national capital by moving to it in the winter 
of 1913-14 a complete exhibit of Alaskan products to impress upon 



Alaska Bureau's Work ^ ^ 

the members of Congress the merits of Alaska's plea for a govern- 
ment railroad. 

The Chamber of Commerce had its origin in the necessity of 
securing, protecting and fostering direct mail service from Seattle to 
Alaska; thirty years later (November, 1911,) the Alaska Bureau 
was formed as a special department to carry on the vvfork of enlighten- 
ing the nation v^^ith regard to the Northland. As the result of govern- 
ment at long range, the application or misapplication of conservation 
theories, bureaucratic red tape, and dense ignorance of the people as 
a whole and the lawmakers in particular, the Territory had become 
bound with regulations until no one could move. Its pioneers were 
discouraged and the prospect of development had vanished. 

With J. E. Chilberg, chairman, and J. L. McPherson, secretary, 
the Alaska Bureau, on behalf of the Chamber, first sent a committee, 
consisting of John L. Wilson, J. D. Lowman (then president), and 
Secretary C. B. Yandell, to the other leading cities of the Coast in an 
effort to enlist the co-operation of their chambers of commerce in 
sending a delegation to Washington, D. C, for the purpose of urging 
that Alaska be relieved of its government bondage, and of insisting 
that the pioneers be given a chance to live. Its mission was to advo- 
cate that, whatever the method, the resources be unlocked, the resi- 
dents be given opportunity to enjoy some fruits of development 
during their lifetime and the world to gain the advantage of the 
wealth that would be forthcoming. Such a delegation, headed by 
Senator Wilson and Secretary Yandell, did spend the winter of 1911- 
1 2 at the National Capital and accomplished noteworthy results in 
arousing an intelligent interest in and understanding of the problems 
of Alaska and her citizens. 

Meanwhile the Chamber, through this bureau, assembled the 
most complete library of reports, maps and other data — including a 
physical exhibit of the resources — that had ever been collected on 
Alaska. It made maps, obtained photographs, prepared charts, and 
combined them into atlases, which were laid before committees of 
Congress, and presented to the President, the Secretary of the Interior, 
and others of influence in national political life. In the Summer of 
1913, carrying as guests correspondents of many national and Eastern 
publications, with Scott C. Bone at its head, and with Seth Mann, of 
San Francisco, as personal representative of the President of the United 
States, the Bureau and the Chamber sent an excursion on a tour of 
more than 8,000 miles, covering all the present estabHshed routes of 
transportation, and visiting all accessible portions of the Territory. 

Following this trip, and as the culmination of all the other work 
that had been done in paving the way. President Wilson, in his 



160 The City That Made Itself 

message to Congress in December, 1913, strongly advocated the 
building of a Government railroad from the Coast to the great interior 
valleys of Alaska, reaching also the coal fields. Meanvs^hile, through 
the refusal of Mr. Lowman to permit his re-election, Mr. Chilberg 
had become president of the Chamber and Mr. Bone chairman of the 
Alaska Bureau. Under their direction a strong committee of volun- 
tary workers vs^ent from Seattle to Washington, where, led by Will 
H. Parry, it impressed upon members of Congress the necessity of 
the Government building this railroad, inasmuch as it made impossible 
securing the road in any other manner. A complete and striking 
exhibit of the products of Alaska was dismantled at the Chamber, 
packed and hastened to Washington on passenger-train time, and 
installed in the Senate office building for the visual enlightenment of 
Senators, Congressmen, Cabinet Members, and others who had not 
previously been able to free themselves from the conviction that 
Alaska is perpetually snow covered and ice bound. That the President 
recommended and Congress in 1914 passed the Alaska railroad bill 
is due in larger measure to the Chamber of Commerce than to any 
other single or several factors. This v\^as at a cost to the organization 
and the business men of Seattle of many thousands of dollars in direct 
outlay, and represented voluntary time and effort on the part of 
numerous public-spirited citizens which cannot be estimated in terms 
of money. 

Mr. Yandell's connection with the Chamber really dates from 
October, 1905, when he acted as secretary during the latter months 
of Mr. Meikle's term. In June, 1907, Roy O. Hadley became assist- 
ant secretary of the Chamber, and has continued in that position since. 

It was practically out of the membership of the Chamber that 
the men were chosen to conduct Seattle's first bid for w^orld-wide 
exploitation — the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. TTiis 
fair, which lasted from June I to October 1 6, had the double distinc- 
tion of being ready on the opening day and closing its gates on the 
final day free from debt. As a result of an extraordinary campaign 
carried on by Will H. Parry, Seattle citizens purchased all the capital 
stock of the exposition company in one day. Mr. Parry's dynamic 
energy and remarkable organizing ability put the undertaking over 
its first barrier and the same talents in him have been used on a score 
of other occasions to the profit of the city. At the head of the expo- 
sition as president was J. E. Chilberg, a man who grew up in Seattle 
and who early absorbed the prevailing desire to do things for his city. 
For practically two years he devoted all his time to exposition affairs, 
and no one during the entire period ever saw him without a smile on 
his face. To all the men connected with the exposition, who gave 





As the View Looking Uunn Second Avenue from .Stewart Street I ned to Appear iind as It Does Now. 



C. /. Smith's Good Work i££ 

their time unsparingly and gratuitously, Seattle owes a debt. The 
full list of officers follows: 

President, J. E. Chilberg; Vice-Presidents, Hon. John H. 
McGraw, A. S. Kerry, H. C. Henry; Director General, I. A. Nadeau; 
Treasurer, C. R. Collins; Secretary, William M. Sheffield; Counsel, 
John W. Roberts. 

Executive Committee: J. E. Chilberg, Hon. John H. McGraw, 

A. S. Kerry, H. C. Henry, C. J. Smith, E. C. Hughes, J. W. CHse, J. 
S. Goldsmith, Will H. Parry, F. W. Baker. Prof. E. S. Meany, C. R. 
Collins, Josiah Collins, Jacob Furth, George Boole, N. H. Latimer, 
Ralph S. Stacy, G. V. Holt. 

Board of Trustees: T. Arai, E. W. Andrews, E. E. Ainsworth, 
F. W. Baker, Alfred Battle, Col. A. J. Blethen, George Boole, Henry 
Broderick, Wm. M. Calhoun, J. E. Chilberg, J. W. Clise, C. R. 
Collins, Josiah Collins, John Davis, J. D. Farrell, G. W. Fisher, J. C. 
Ford, R. R. Fox, C. E. Fowler, Jacob Furth, J. S. Goldsmith, John P. 
Hartman, Andrew Hemrich, H. C. Henry, James D. Hoge, E. C. 
Hughes, S. H. Hedges, A. S. Kerry, N. H. Latimer, Hon. John H. 
McGraw, Geo. S. McLaren, J. C. Marmaduke, James A. Moore, 
William Hickman Moore, William Pigott, J. B. Powles, John G. 
Price, W. L. Rhoades, John W. Roberts, E. Shorrock, C. J. Smith, A. 

B. Stewart, C. D. Stimson, H. W. Treat, E. E. Webster, H. R. Will- 
iams, Hon. John L. Wilson, C. F. White, Will H. Parry. 

The executive heads of the various departments vs^ere: James 
A. Wood, director of exploitation; Frank P. Allen, Jr., director of 
works; Louis Baeder, assistant; Henry E. Dosch, director of exhibits; 

C. E. Mattox, director of concessions; Welford Beaton, chief of the 
department of publicity. These officials, with the director-general 
and secretary, were the salaried heads of their departments, all the 
others w^hose names are given above having served the exposition 
for three years without any further remuneration than the satisfaction 
of having done a good work well. It w^as largely due to the extraor- 
dinarily efficient v^ork of the chairman of the building committee, C. 
J. Smith, that the exposition lived up to its widely exploited promise 
that it was "The Fair that Will Be Ready," point being lent to the 
phrase by the fact that previous expositions in the United States had 
not been completed on the opening day. The work which Mr. 
Smith did in connection with the exposition was characteristic of his 
many years of service for Seattle. 

One predominant feature of the exposition was the exquisite 
effect gained by taking full advantage of the climate and site in devel- 
oping the landscape possibilities. Olmsted Brothers made the plans, 
James Frederick Dawson, a member of the firm, being in charge of 



162 The City That Made Itself 

the actual work. So well was the work done that it was generally 
conceded that Seattle's exposition was the most beautiful ever held. 

In the month following the closing of the exposition the Cham- 
ber of Commerce tendered a banquet to the non-salaried officers. To 
W. A. Peters was assigned the duty of unveiling a bronze tablet 
which now occupies a permanent place on the University Campus, 
vsrhere the exposition was held. Mr. Peters' brief address reflected 
the feeling of the citizens at the time and was such a gem of poetic 
eloquence that I reproduce it here in full : 

"You who have listened to the eloquence of our toastmaster 
(Judge Thomas Burke), w^ho has so ably portrayed the sentiments 
of those who sit about you here, surely have no room for doubt that 
so long as his lips may speak, so long as our hearts may beat, you 
will not want for testimony to your noble acts of citizenship. 

"Sitting under this spell, it is hard for us to realize that the 
citadel which you set in stars beyond the lake, and which made the 
glory of our summer nights, has long since become a shadow across 
our sky; it is hard for us to believe that those graceful temples, those 
firelit waters, those magic gardens may soon return to the wilder- 
ness from which your genius charmed them, or to the unpoetic walks 
of daily commerce; harder, still, is it for us to believe that the lesson 
in self-reliance, in daring enterprise, in magnificent achievement 
which you have taught an unbelieving nation, can ever be forgotten; 
or that your honored names may sound but strange upon the ears of 
those who throng our streets in days to come. Yet well we know 
that all such memories must go the road of the unremembered past. 

"And so, against such chance, we have thought to place upon 
that spot which you have so ennobled a memorial which may speak 
in more enduring tongue to those who follow us. The inscription 
is as follows: 

On these grounds was held between June I st and October I 6th, 1 909, 
THE ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC EXPOSITION, 
and this tablet is erected by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce as a testimonial to those 
citizens of Seattle who, from a sense of civic loyalty, and at great personal sacrifice, 
created and carried to success an exposition of lasting benefit not only to this city but 
to the entire Northwest. 

But far more imp)ortant than all other advantages resulting from such an exhibition, 
is the inspiring example of unselfish and disinterested public service which these citizens, 
without material reward, or the hope thereof, have given to their city. Such men are 
the proudest possession of any community and the surest guaranty of its prosperity and 
greatness. 

"Thus may your children's children, and generations on the 
heel of these, made mindful of our measure of your worth, them- 
selves add honor to a noble heritage," concluded Mr. Peters. 



Seattle Commercial Club 163 

In 1 904 an agitation in favor of an organization of a body of 
business men to supplement the work of the Chamber of Commerce 
led to the formation of the Seattle Commercial Club. The first 
meeting was held on November 6, 1 904, at which George H. Revelle 
was elected president and Homer L. Bull secretary, their terms to 
continue until the first regular election of officers. In January, 1905, 
the election was held and the follow^ing officers selected: 

C. F. White, president; George H. Revelle, vice-president; W. 
C. Ruckman, vice-president; Ralph S. Stacey, treasurer; W. R. 
Williams, secretary; directors, George Matzen, J. C. Marmaduke, N. 
R. Sibley, George A. Virtue, F. C. Harper, J. A. Forehand, J. F. Lane, 
H. A. Schoenfeld, Frank Waterhouse, F. Edgar Barth, Homer L. 
Bull, Dr. J. H. Snively, H. W. Mix. 

During the ten years that the Commercial Club has been in 
existence some efforts have been made to prevent its energy being 
expended along the same lines as is that of the Chamber of Com- 
merce. At one time it was suggested that all civic publicity and 
entertaining be done by the Commercial Club, leaving the other 
problems exclusively in the hands of the Chamber. Nothing came of 
these efforts, however, and there is no line of demarkation between 
the fields of operation of the two organizations. 

The officers of the club in 1914 w^ere: 

Fred W. Bert, Jr., president; Earnest Carstens, first vice-presi- 
dent and treasurer; W. E. Stevens, second vice-president; Otto A. 
Case, secretary; directors, H. E. Jones, Glenn C. Beechler, M. J. Car- 
keek, Roland W. Cotterill, Robert A. Devers, Albro Gardner, Jr., M. 
A. Gottstein, Otto L. Luther, Nels Hartvig, Fred Hoyt, George B. 
Cole, Carl A. Ewald, Cassius E. Gates, W. G. Norris, Harry A. Owen, 
A. T. Rautenberg, W. H. Barnes, M. V. Kellogg, William H. Gorham, 
Robert S. Boyns, C. C. Finn. 



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 



FROM THE LOG CABIN TO THE SKYSCRAPER 



A CITY is not made with a hammer and saw; a mere collection 
of buildings does not indicate civic valor, so there is small 
space in my book of Seattle fundamentals for reference to 
the individual units that make the city that each of us can see. 
The man who erected the first rude log cabin displayed more nerve 
than did the man who later erected a sky-scraper. The first required 
grim determination, sublime courage and self-reliance — the second, 
merely money. The man who carved his home with his axe laid the 
foundation that the great steel buildings were later built upon; the 
men who fought for a score of years to give Seattle a place on the 
map opened the way for the dollars that subsequently came to reap 
the benefits of their heroic v^^ork. 

It was immediately after the fire in 1 889 that Seattle com- 
menced to rear the buildings that gave her the appearance of a city. 
The notable structures before that time were the Yesler-Leary Build- 
ing, near where the Mutual Life Building now stands, on Pioneer 
Place, the Boston Block, still a modern structure, which was erected 
by Herman Chapin and associates at a time w^hen it required some 
nerve and confidence to erect such a large building in such a small 
city, and the Burke Building, at the corner of TTiird Avenue and 
Union Street. There were other large buildings, of course, but these 
three were significant. Yesler and Leary erected the first office build- 
ing at the head of the street that was then the most prominent retail 
thoroughfare in the city; Herman Chapin spent a great many thou- 
sand dollars blocks away from it on Second Avenue, where the com- 
merce of the city was commencing to develop; Judge Burke went 
still farther afield and erected a building at Third and Union when he 
had to go through v^oods to reach it from "dov/n town." 

After the fire the principal property owners of the city began to 
rear more ambitious buildings on the ashes of those that had reached 
back almost to the village stage of Seattle's history. W. E. Bailey 
erected the building that for many years bore his name and is now 
the Railway Exchange Building, J. D. Lowman the Pioneer Building, 
John Collins the Seattle Hotel and Collins Block, Angus Mackintosh 
the Kenneth Building, the Starr-Boyd estate the building that bears 
its name, Dexter Horton the New York Block, and A. H. Foote and 
associates the Pacific Building. All these buildings clustered around 
the business center as it then was. Again Judge Burke did some 

164 








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The First Skys craper £££ 

pioneering, and at the corner of Marion and Second Avenue built the 
Burke Building, which was the most ambitious structure in the 
Northwest when it was completed, and which is still an ornament to 
the main retail street. The Downs, Hinckley, Haller, McDonald and 
Epler Buildings were also added. 

The first steel building of the "sky-scraper" type to be erected in 
Seattle was the Alaska Building. In 1 903 J. E. Chilberg, Jafet Linde- 
berg and other stockholders of the Scandinavian-American Bank, pur- 
chased the southeast corner of Second and Cherry from the Amos 
Brown estate for $250,000, with the intention of erecting upon it a 
home for the bank. The morning after they made the purchase, J. 
C. Marmaduke, of St. Louis, decided that he would like to erect a 
building on the corner and approached the Amos Brown estate with 
a view of buying it. When he discovered the sale had already been 
made he hunted up Mr. Chilberg, made him a proposition, and the 
two joined in the erection of the first fourteen-story steel building 
in the Northwest. Construction work was completed in eleven 
months. The building stood as the highest in the city until James D. 
Hoge and associates erected the Hoge Building, across the corner 
from it. In 1914 was completed the Smith Building, which rears its 
forty-second story into the clouds and gives Seattle the proud distinc- 
tion of having the highest building in the world outside New York 
City. The Leary Building, at the corner of Madison Street and 
Second Avenue, was erected by Mrs. John Leary. 

The first reinforced concrete structures in Seattle were the 
Ameiican Bank and Empire Buildings, which connect and were built 
jointly by the American Savings Bank and Judge Burke. A. Warren 
Gould was the architect, and in 1914 he is engaged in erecting a 
million-dollar court-house for King County. 

It is interesting to note that Judge Burke, in covering five lots 
w^ith business blocks, has done more building on his own property 
than any other individual in the city. Dexter Horton was a close 
second, his New York Block covering four lots. 

A striking feature of the erection of buildings in Seattle is the 
work of development now^ being done by the Metropolitan Building 
Company, an organization of prominent capitalists. The company 
w^as organized in 1907 for the purpose of taking over from James A. 
Moore a lease he then had on the ten acres situated in the heart of 
Seattle which A. A. Denny, C. C. Terry and Edward Lander, in 
1 86 1 , presented to the state for a site for the University, and vs^hich 
was used for university purposes until September, 1895. It was a 
tract without streets or buildings, although completely surrounded by 
both. The Metropolitan Company began the unique task of build- 



166 The City That Made Itself 

ing a city within a city and has given to Seattle some of the finest 
office buildings on the continent. The White, Henry and Cobb and 
the Metropolitan Theatre Buildings were the large structures com- 
pleted prior to 1914, and the Stuart Building was in course of con- 
struction in that year. The company is not only developing the tract 
with buildings that will produce revenue, but it is doing all the phys- 
ical work with regard to beauty of design and the artistic effect of 
the group v^hen it shall be completed. The land is still owned by the 
University, and the Metropolitan Building Company has increased 
its value not only to the extent of the buildings it erected on it but by 
bringing it so emphatically into the city. Howrells & Stokes, the 
architects, have carefully preserved harmony of color and design in 
all the buildings and are giving to Seattle a group of structures that 
will be a decided ornament. 

In 1914 the officers of the Metropolitan Building Company 
were: C. H. Cobb, president; C. F. White, E. A. Stuart and O. D. 
Fisher, vice-presidents; J. F. Douglas, secretary and manager. 
Among the stockholders v^ere, in addition to the above: H. C. 
Henry, R. D. Merrill, Grant Smith, A. F. Coats, W. H. Talbot, W. 
G. Collins, M. G. Draham, Thomas Bordeaux, Patrick McCoy and 
M. J. Whitson. 

Many millions of dollars of outside capital have been spent in 
building operations in Seattle. One of the most persistent investors, 
who are not now and never have been residents of Seattle, is G. 
Henry Whitcomb, of Worcester, Mass. Mr. Whitcomb was the first 
man in America to manufacture envelopes by machinery and has 
had a singularly successful business career. Early in 1 898 James A. 
Moore, then a real estate broker in Seattle, was introduced to Mr. 
Whitcomb in Worcester and, as the manufacturer w^as contemplating 
a trip to the Pacific Coast during the summer of that year, he prom- 
ised Mr. Moore that he would visit Seattle and see if it measured up 
to the enthusiastic description of the real estate man. Mr. Whitcomb 
brought his entire family. When he arrived Seattle had all the ear- 
marks of a frontier town. The Klondike rush was at its height, and 
on the street in front of the Rainier Grand Hotel, where the Whit- 
comb party stopped, dogs w^ere being trained to harness. Mr. Whit- 
comb spent some weeks in Seattle and explored it thoroughly. The 
impression it made was apparently satisfactory, for he proceeded to 
purchase property to the extent of $1 13,000, spread out as follows: 
One hundred lots known as the Lowman property, for $25,000; 
thirty-five acres known as the Emerson land, near the University, for 
$16,000; the northwest corner of Pike and Fourth, for $42,000; the 
northwest corner of Third and Virginia, for $10,000, and the north- 



A Non-resident Investor 167 

west corner of Second and Union, for $20,000. On the last men- 
tioned property he proceeded to spend $8,000 remodeling the build- 
ing, bringing the total of his first year's investment up to $121,000. 
These purchases indicated Mr. Whitcomb's faith in two things that 
were not accepted at that time even by many residents of Seattle — 
the gradual w^orking north on Second Avenue of the retail business, 
and the ultimate development of the University district. It also re- 
flected quite remarkable foresight and a confidence in the ultimate 
growth of the city that was not influenced by local prejudice, as he 
had no sentimental interest in the future of Seattle. That he was not 
carried avs^ay by a momentary burst of enthusiasm was demonstrated 
during the following year, when he purchased the southeast corner 
of Second and Union and proceeded immediately to erect the Esta- 
brook Block. In 1 90 1 he purchased practically all of what is now 
Capitol Hill, cleared it, paved it, and placed it on the market through 
the office of James A. Moore. Also in 1 90 1 Mr. Whitcomb leased 
the entire block surrounded by Second, Union, First, and University 
Streets — the Denny covs^ pasture — had the cows removed and com- 
menced the construction of the Arcade Building, wrhich, with the 
Annex erected in 1907, occupies all the property. This building, still 
ow^ned by Mr. Whitcomb and built entirely by him, is the largest office 
structure in the city, containing 351 ,000 square feet of floor space. In 
the forty-two-story L. C. Smith Building there are 300,000 square feet. 

In 1905 and 1906 Mr. Whitcomb acquired all the frontage on 
the east side of Second Avenue from Pine to Stewart and erected 
the Amherst apartment building and the Washington Hotel Annex. 
So closely did he follovsr the regrade operations that the steam 
shovels were eating away the hill on the rear of his property while 
he vyras building on the front. 

I give in detail Mr. Whitcomb's activity in Seattle to guard 
against the possibility of a charge that the title of my book bears an 
implication that Seattle owed nothing to outside capital. During 
the more strenuous period of her existence, when she w^as passing 
from the village stage to that of more metropolitan proportions, she 
received but little aid from beyond her borders, but when she had 
proven her worth outside capital was attracted, and the story of Mr. 
Whitcomb's interests illustrates the part that one non-resident played 
in her development. He is still a large property owner here, the 
Arcade Building and Annex and the Estabrook Block being owned by 
him. His son, David Whitcomb, is in charge of the Seattle property. 

Seattle's most unique structure — the forty-two-story L. C. 
Smith Building, the highest in the world outside of New York City 
— was the result of another non-resident's faith in the future of the 



168 The City That Made Itself 

city. The chain of circumstances that led up to the construction of 
the conspicuous land-mark starts away back a full half century ago. 
At that time Miss Mary Slocum was making dresses for Mrs. L. C. 
Smith's mother and other w^omen in Syracuse, New York. In the 
eighties Miss Slocum decided to join her sister, Mrs. W. E. Boone, 
in Seattle. In 1 888 Mrs. Smith's parents, Mrs. Smith, and her son. 
Burns Lyman Smith, crossed the continent for a visit to San Fran- 
cisco. While on the Coast they decided that they had better return 
home by way of Seattle, in order to see their old friend Miss 
Slocum. They put in a week here, the most notable incident of 
the visit being the soaking of Mr. Boone by little Burns, who 
learned to play with the garden hose, and w^ho was promptly chas- 
tised by his victim. On the return home the members of the party 
were warm in their praise of Seattle and Mr. Smith visited the city 
a few years after in order to see it for himself. In I 890 J. W. Clise 
left for New York City to endeavor to interest capital in the pur- 
chase of a number of properties in the wholesale district south of 
Yesler Way. He stopped off at Syracuse to call on his friend 
William Nottingham, a prominent attorney. In course of the visit 
Mr. Nottingham suggested that he try to interest L. C. Smith in the 
properties. Mr. Smith by that time had amassed a great fortune by 
manufacturing the typewriter that bears his name. The necessary 
introduction was arranged and the three men held numerous con- 
ferences. A few months later Mr. Smith wrote one check to cover 
the purchase of the following properties: The corner of Second 
Avenue and Yesler Way, where the great building now stands; 
the Pacific Block, the northwest corner of Occidental and Main, the 
southwest corner of Occidental and Main, the northeast corner of 
King and Occidental, the Marshall Building, at the southeast corner 
of First and Main; the Grand Central Hotel Building, at the north- 
east corner of First and Main, and the northw^est corner of First 
and King. Four and five-story modern buildings occupied some of 
the corners. Watson C. Squire, formerly Governor of Washington, 
was the vendor. It was probably the largest individual purchase of 
property at one time in the history of Seattle real estate. It was 
two years after he made the deal before Mr. Smith came west again 
to view his property. Meanv^^hile Mr. Clise represented him here 
and continued to do so for ten years. In 1 909 Mr. Smith visited 
Seattle and Mr. Clise urged him to improve his property at Second 
and Yesler, as the chief building then under way in the city was in 
the neighborhood of Second and Pike and Mr. Clise feared that the 
other end of Second Avenue was suffering through neglect. While 
in Seattle Mr. Smith met John Hoge, who was associated with 



Smith and Hoge Buildings 169 

James D. Hoge in the ownership of the northwest corner of Second 
and Cherry, and the two milHonaires indulged in good-natured spar- 
ring regarding the improvement of their respective properties. Each 
was anxious to build a greater structure than the other, and both 
declared that they thought fourteen stories was about the proper 
height to go. Meanvsrhile Burns Lyman Smith was busy examining 
sky-scrapers in New York, and w^hen his father returned east in 
November, 1 909, the son was wedded to the erection of a main 
building twenty-one stories high and a tow^er of the same height 
above it, making forty-two stories in all. His mother shared his 
opinion, for she was confident that while the building might be too 
large for the Seattle of that day, the city v^^ould soon overcome it 
and grow great enough to justify the investment. Both of them 
were somewhat surprised when Mr. Smith, at a family dinner on 
the night of his return, stated that he thought he had better run up 
a building so high that there was no danger of anyone else even 
approaching it for many years to come, and he outlined just the 
sort of structure that his v^^ife and son had intended to urge him to 
build. Gaggin & Gaggin, Syracuse architects, w^ere called in, work 
started November 1 , 1911, and in 1914 the magnificent building 
was opened. Mr. Smith never lived to see his plans materialize, 
but Burns Lyman Smith carried them through. 

The Hoge Building got under w^ay before the Smith Building, 
construction having started in March of 1911, and it broke all 
worlds' records for the rapidity with which the steel frame went 
up, the entire eighteen stories being in place in thirty days. For a 
while, therefore, the Hoge Building enjoyed the distinction of being 
the tallest structure in the Northwest. It is a very beautiful building, 
Seattle architects, Messrs. Bebb & Mendel, being responsible for it. 
It is the home of the Union Savings and Trust Company. 

The Denny Hill regrade was followed by a building boom in 
its vicinity, the Standard Furniture Company's building, the New 
Washington, Calhoun, Archibald, and Washington Annex hotels 
being erected in quick succession. The Moore Theatre, erected by 
James A. Moore, was built as soon as the ground was leveled, and 
the Haight Building, erected by James A. Haight, a man who has 
long been active in public affairs in Seattle, added another modern 
touch to the district through which the steam shovels ate their way. 
The Joshua Green Building, at Fourth and Pike, was erected in 
1914 by Joshua Green, and is one of the handsomest office structures 
in Seattle; Stirrat & Goetz had previously improved the corner 
opposite it with the Northern Bank Building. 



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 



THE MAIL,THE TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE 



IN these days of rapid and almost instantaneous communication, 
when in their flight the messages from man to man annihilate 
time and space, it is hard to appreciate the lack of facilities in 
this respect with which the pioneers of early Western days had to 
contend. It is a far cry from the pony and canoe to the fast mail 
train of our present day, or from the carrier pigeon to the wireless 
flash that has conquered hill and plain. Today Seattle is in instant 
touch with all the centers of the earth; sixty years ago news from 
any point was worth a holiday. 

Struggling settlement though it was those three score years ago, 
Seattle would not be cut off from the outer world, and in the days 
of 1852 its mail was first received. It came by the canoe express, 
with Robert Moxlie as the canoeist carrier, who had been engaged 
to make a trip each w^eek. But receiving mail was then a luxury 
as we see it now. The charge was twenty-five cents per first-class 
envelope, C. O. D. Nor was that all: since the revenue thus derived 
did not cover the expense of the service, nearly all the settlers sub- 
scribed additional sums to maintain the postal route. It is not of 
record how many letters came by the first canoe, but on the last 
official trip arriving August 15, 1853, the letters numbered twenty- 
two. The mail came by way of Olympia, then the largest settle- 
ment in the State. After this the mail was carried by more preten- 
tious boats. In that same year A. A. Denny was appointed to be 
Seattle's first postmaster, and he received the first official United 
States mail on August 27, in his log-built home on the site where 
stood Frye's Opera House, now the Stevens Hotel, which served as 
postoffice for several months. On October 1 1, 1853, W. J. Wright 
succeeded Mr. Denny in the postmastership and the office was 
transferred to the drug store of Plummer & Chase, on Commercial 
Street. On May 4, 1854, there was another change, with the ap- 
pointment of Charles Plummer as postmaster, the office having 
been declined for a second term by Mr. Denny. Wm. H. Gilliam, 
later a postmaster, was placed in charge of the office at this time. 
The quarters vv^ere most handsomely equipped for those days. 

Mr. Plummer was succeeded by Timothy D. Hinckley, who 
was appointed November 14, 1861; Samuel F. Coombs was made 
postmaster March 25, 1862; then Gardner Kellogg took over the 

170 



When Ha nford "Rode the Mail" {7/ 

office. It remained at the location on First Avenue South, between 
Main and Washington Streets, where Postmaster Plummer had 
established it. 

Mail was delivered to Seattle by boat until the year 1867. In 
that year a contract for the "overland" delivery of mail by way of 
Puyallup was let. From Puyallup it was brought on pony back by 
trail, a distance of forty miles. The contract was taken by C. H. 
Hanford, then a young man, later a federal judge, who "rode the 
mail" for one year at a consideration of $500 per annum, after 
which he was underbid on the job. Postmaster Pumphrey, in 1875, 
moved the office to the corner of Mill Street, now Yesler Way, and 
Post Street. He was succeeded by Thomas W. Prosch on July 1 8, 
1875. After serving two years, Prosch was succeeded, on June 25, 
1877, by Ossian J. Carr. Mr. Carr held the office nine years, the 
longest continuous service of an administration since the beginning 
of Seattle's postal service. 

John M. Lyon was appointed on January 5, 1887, served 
little over a year, and was succeeded on April 5, 1889, by Albert 
M. Brookes. Mr. Lyon moved the office to the Boston National 
Bank Block, on Second Avenue near Columbia Street. It was 
located here when the big fire occurred. Because it was regarded 
as being too far out of the business district at this point, Postmaster 
Brookes moved the office to the north side of Columbia Street be- 
tween Second and Third Avenues, and on this site it remained until 
the rapid growth of the thriving city made it necessary in 1889 to 
seek larger quarters. Griffith Davies became postmaster on 
February 14. 1891 ; Gilbert S. Meen on April 8, 1895, and George 
M. Stewart on March 3, 1899. At the time of Mr. Stewart's ap- 
pointment the quarters of the postoffice were being moved to the 
Arlington Block, at the corner of First Avenue and University 
Street. At that time there was almost constant complaint that the 
office was situated too far away from the business center. 

Several years later, or about 1902, the surprising growth of the 
district north of Madison brought the postoffice in the center of the 
business district and there it remained until the occupation of the 
present Federal Building, at Third Avenue and Union Street, on 
November 1, 1901. Postmaster Stewart was succeeded in Novem- 
ber, 1908, by George F. Russell, who prior to that time had served 
as city treasurer of Seattle. Edgar Battle, the present postmaster 
(1914), was appointed by President Wilson on September 10, 1913. 

The oldest living ex-postmaster of Seattle is Gardner Kellogg, 
who held that office from 1863 to 1870. The oldest employe of the 



112 The City That Made Itself 

postoffice still in the service is William J. Colkett, the present assistant 
postmaster, who had entered the service in 1 880. 

From that day in 1853, when the last canoe mail brought 
twenty-two letters and fourteen papers to Seattle, to the present 
time the development of the Seattle postoffice has been remarkably 
rapid. During the calendar year of 1913 there were dispatched from 
the office 5,183,680 letters and 501,000 sacks of other mail. It re- 
ceived an average of seven car-loads of mail a day, to say nothing 
of a big mail by boats. The money-order department was added in 
1 870, after many years of persistent fighting to have it established. 
During the first year 1 40 money orders w^ere issued. During the 
year 1913 domestic money orders to the number of 203,365, totalling 
$1,977,410.38, and 39,835 international orders, amounting to 
$1,261,147.78, were issued from this office. In that year there v^^as 
paid out on 910,786 money orders of both kinds the sum of 
$7,589,905.48. In 1913 stamps to the total of $1,344,248.44 were 
sold from the Seattle institution. 

The carrier service of the Seattle postoffice was put into effect 
on September I, 1887, with F. C. Henry, John P. Jones, Andrew J. 
Snyder and R. H. Brooks as the first carriers. Today the Seattle 
office has 200 carriers, 221 clerks, 18 special delivery messengers 
and 6 rural carriers to supply the immediate vicinity of the city. 
The postal savings system v^^as established in Seattle on September 
9, 191 I, and has already 2,200 depositors, with $350,000 on deposit. 

The Seattle postoffice is now tw^enty-first in size among all the 
offices in the United States. It is one of the five exchange offices in 
the country for handling foreign mail. The present building is 
already so crowded that the government has purchased a site 
for a branch office near the depots, in the south end of the city, and 
it is here that the foreign mail will be handled. Of this sort of mail 
20,012 sacks were dispatched from Seattle during 1913. 

Spread over the city are now^ fourteen civil-service postoffice 
stations and forty-seven contract offices for the convenience of the 
public. With one exception, all the postoffices of the State of Wash- 
ington and of Alaska remit surplus postal and money-order funds 
to the Seattle institution. This amounts to $5,000,000 annually. 
Its payroll covers 300 rural carriers in the state, 1 25 railway mail 
clerks and the 320 employes of the office, the 745 persons receiving 
$1,400,000 each year. 

No more convincing testimony to prove the grit, aggressiveness 
and self-sacrifice which characterized the citizens of pioneer Seattle 
i$ extant than the record of deeds and events that kept in the city 





An Ertrly-Day Picture iind a Recent One Tnken fr(in» the Same Spot. 



First Telegraphic Dispatch 173 

its early telegraph facilities. No self-interest could have induced the 
men of that time to go down in their pockets to help maintain a 
means of communication which was a novelty in those days. It was 
pride and loyalty to their town. 

In 1864 the California State Telegraph Company, then the 
western rival of the Western Union Telegraph Company, decided 
to build its line to Westminster, B. C, by way of Olympia, then the 
most important point in Washington. In the same year construction 
was begun by R. R. Haines, who built the line. Seattle was not 
even considered as a station. As the building of the line progressed 
northward and reached Seattle on its way, an office was established 
here as a result of the decision of John M. Lyon, who had supervi- 
sion of construction. Mr. Lyon was one of the first telegraph oper- 
ators in the West, besides being proficient as a construction and 
maintenance expert. He saw that somewhere between Portland and 
New Westminster there had to be a relay station and division point 
and that the selection of this place must fall to him. Although 
Olympia was then the larger place, he had the vision and foresight 
to see that Seattle held the larger future. So his decision fell on 
this city, thus making it a telegraph center from the earliest days. 
Mr. Lyon himself became the Seattle operator, relieving Daniel F. 
Lehigh in 1865, and continuing in that capacity until 1884. Seattle 
is still his home. 

The first telegraph office was located in the Yesler-Denny Com- 
pany store, at the corner of Mill and Commercial Streets, now 
Yesler Way and First Avenue, and was afterwards moved to perma- 
nent quarters in C. C. Terry's building, at the corner of Mill and 
Commercial Streets. The first message received in Seattle came over 
the one wire, October 25, 1864. It stated that "A courier from the 
front reports Price in full retreat, closely pursued by our forces." 
The opening of the line was fittingly celebrated by the firing of a 
cannon — a method of celebration in harmony with the tenor of the 
first dispatch. 

The telegraph had come easily to Seattle, as if by accident. It 
almost left as readily, and the successful efforts of local citizens to 
retain the service was the real Seattle Spirit exemplified. With the 
panic of 1873 hard times seized the land. Retrenchment was in the 
air. One of the first things the directors of the telegraph company 
did was to vote to discontinue the service north of Portland. Seattle 
citizens heard of this. Realizing that the telegraph had become a 
necessity and that Seattle's commercial life had grown to depend on 
its continuance, and because the sawmills needed the wire to keep 
in touch with the Southern markets, her citizens acted promptly. 



174 The City That Made Itself 

Eighteen men subscribed $1,800 at once in advance tolls and suc- 
ceeded in their efforts to prevent discontinuance of the service. The 
sawmill operators easily used up the advance tolls they had paid, 
but much of the money subscribed was never utilized for messages. 
Although A. A. Denny had subscribed $100 towards the fund, he 
received a number of messages "collect" and paid the money rather 
than reduce the amount of his subscription. 

The telephone had not been proven successful in the East long 
before Seattle w^anted it. When an opportunity to secure a system 
was offered the town eagerly seized it. The Sunset Telephone Com- 
pany was organized in 1 883 and immediately secured a franchise 
to install a system in Seattle. The organizers w^ere John S. Sabrine 
and a number of other officials of the telegraph company, vs^ho un- 
dertook to found the system on their own responsibility and secure 
subscriptions to its stock. The telephone was first exhibited to the 
people of Seattle in the same year. The exhibition took place in a 
hall, where the townfolk had gathered. E. H. Larabee sang into 
the line at some point outside the building and w^as heard by those 
within. TTie service w^as inaugurated in 1884, with the main office 
in the telegraph headquarters in the Yesler Building at Second 
Avenue and Cherry Street. For many years the Sunset Company 
had the Seattle field to itself. Then a general feeling of dissat- 
isfaction with its service culminated in the establishment of a second 
system in 1901. The competitor was called the Independent Tele- 
phone Company. In the eleven years of its existence the new com- 
pany developed a system of 1 6,000 telephones. In the meantime 
the original company had become reorganized and made a part of 
the great Bell system. Its service had so improved that when, in 
1912, it took over the entire plant of the Independent Company 
there was a general feeling of relief throughout the city. In the 
year preceding the consolidation there had been an attempt to vote 
bonds to establish a municipal telephone system that would take 
over the Independent Company's properties, but the scheme was 
decisively defeated. 

Today, with a population of 303,000 people, Seattle has more 
than 5 1 ,000 telephones, which means one instrument to every six 
persons within its boundaries. That Seattle is better equipped with 
telephones than the majority of cities in the United States is shown 
by telephone statistics. The average number of telephones in use 
in American cities of more than 1 00,000 population is 11.4 to each 
hundred people; in Seattle there are seventeen phones to each hun- 
dred of population. The system here is one of the most highly 
developed in the entire country, and its management is infused with 



Wireless and the Cable 175 

that predominant note that is now being struck by all enlightened 
public-service corporations — a desire to please the public. From his 
home or his office a Seattle citizen can get in touch with 674,000 
phones on the Pacific Coast, and in 1915 it is promised that he 
will be able to speak across the continent. There are 1 50,000 tele- 
phones in the State of Washington, and of this number Seattle has 
considerably more than one-third. The city is a district center of 
the great Bell interests — on this Coast organized under the name of 
the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company — and approximately 
2,000 employes are attached to the Seattle division. C. O. Myers 
is manager. The district commercial superintendent is F. L. 
McNally. 

In the development of means of communication, Seattle is still 
abreast of the world and today she is one of the principal wireless 
stations of the earth, in easy touch with the ships that ply the 
Pacific thousands of miles away as well as with the country to the 
north or south of her. Seattle is also headquarters for the United 
States cable to Alaska. 

The work of connecting Seattle with Alaska by cable com- 
menced in 1 90 1 . At the present time the Government operates 
through the Seattle offices, of which Capt. Basil O. Lenoir, U. S. 
Signal Corps, is in charge, the following cable units, the dates desig- 
nating the time that they were laid: Cordova to Cape Whiteshed, 
September 10, 1908; Fanshaw to Wrangell, December 21, 1906; 
Hadley to Ketchikan, December 24, 1906; between Forts Lawton, 
Worden and Flagler; Lawton to Ward; Seattle to Sitka, August 28, 
1904; Sitka to Valdez, October 6, 1904; Seward to Valdez, August 
5, 1905; Juneau to Sitka, October 2, 1903; Juneau to Skagway, 
August 23, 1901; Montague Island to Cordova, August 12, 1908; 
Valdez to Liscum; Wrangell to Hadley, December 30, 1906; Sitka to 
Japonski, August 31, 1907. 



CHAPTER NINETEEN 



THE CITY'S STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION 



SEATTLE is the financial center of the Northwest. The foun- 
dation upon which she built this enduring structure was the 
honesty of two men. "Horton and Denny's bank is good 
enough for me," was the expression universally heard, from Vic- 
toria to Olympia, in the seventies, and from all parts of the Sound 
men came to Seattle and deposited their money v^ith as much con- 
fidence as the Briton leaves his in the safe keeping of the Bank of 
England. The effect this had on the growing community was im- 
portant; it brought all the leading men of the Sound into close finan- 
cial relations w^ith Seattle and laid the foundation for the great 
wholesale trade that the city now enjoys, as country merchants 
found it convenient to buy their supplies in the town where their 
money was on deposit. Had Dexter Horton and Arthur A. Denny 
never entered the banking business it is reasonable to presume that 
an institution was as likely to develop in some other community as 
in Seattle and the tide of early financial transactions to turn in its 
direction. 

When Dexter Horton started in the mercantile business in 
Seattle in 1 854, opening a small store at what is now^ the corner of 
First Avenue South and Washington, he had no intention of becom- 
ing a banker. There were no banks in the Territory then and the 
need for one did not exist, as money v^as somewhat scarce. In 
those early days the possibilities of studying character were greater 
than they are now, for every man knew his neighbor well and the 
early struggle brought into bold relief the stuff the men were made 
of. As the years vs^ent on Dexter Horton measured up to the stan- 
dard that man set upon man and gained the reputation for honesty 
and integrity that follovsred him to his grave. Loggers coming in 
from the camps did not wish to carry their money v^ith them and 
grew into the habit of leaving it with Horton. It was placed in 
sacks and hidden in various places in his store, the depths of a 
barrel of coffee being one of the favorite spots. As this stock of 
other people's money grew Horton installed a safe to better care 
for it. Men would leave their sacks with him and he would throw 
them into the safe, v^^ith an identifying tag on each. In some cases 
years would elapse before some of the owners would call again, but 
when they did the sack was still in the safe. Gradually it became 
the habit to keep the sacks in action by the owner calling often to 

176 




Seattle's First Bank 

Interior and Exterior ^iews of the Original Home of the Dexter Ilorton Bank. The Group in the 

Upper Photograph, from Left to Right. Shows B. H. Denny, B. F. Briggs, Dexter Horton, 

C. L. Denny, A. A. Denny, N. H. Latimer. The Lower View Shows the Bank Still 

Doing Business in the Midst of the Kuins of the Great Fire of 1889. 



Dexter Norton Opens Bank 177 

add to or subtract from his store of gold. When money was needed 
the owner of a sack would take out what he needed, place a receipt 
for the amount in its place, and again the sack would be thrown into 
the safe. 

The evolution of this practice was natural. Dexter Horton 
found himself overrun with money by 1870 and decided that there 
was nothing left for him to do but open a bank and care for it in a 
more systematic manner. David Phillips, another progressive mer- 
chant, joined forces with Horton and on June 1 6, 1 870, under the 
name of Phillips-Horton & Co., they opened a bank in a one-story 
frame building, twenty by forty feet in size at the corner of w^hat is 
now First Avenue South and Washington Street. 

The new bank was less than two years old when, in March, 
1872, David Phillips died. Arthur A. Denny took over the Phillips 
interest and the firm name then became Dexter Horton & Co. With 
the thoroughness that characterized all his actions, Mr. Denny en- 
tered the banking business, accepting full responsibility for his in- 
vestment. It vs^as w^hile Horton and Denny w^ere in partnership that 
the bank commenced to develop into the big institution that it is 
today, and the universal confidence reposed in the two men was a 
greater asset for the firm than the columns of figures that reflected 
its financial standing. In 1887 a Territorial charter was obtained 
and the bank operated under it until June 27, 1910, vs^hen it re- 
ceived a charter from the national government and the name was 
changed to the Dexter Horton National Bank of Seattle. Arthur A. 
Denny died on January 9, 1 899, and Dexter Horton on July 28, 
1 904. N. H. Latimer, who entered the banks employ as a youth, 
rose to become its president when it became a national bank. R. 
H. Denny, one of A. A. Denny's sons, is a vice-president, and C. E. 
Horton, nephew of Dexter Horton, is on the board of directors. 

I have followed the history of the Dexter Horton bank because 
it was the first to be organized, not only in the small town from 
which the Seattle of today grew^, but in the Territory that is now 
the State of Washington. As the city grew other banks were organ- 
ized, reached prosperity, were absorbed by others or — as happened 
in but few instances — had to give up the struggle against odds too 
great to meet. Jacob Furth w^as always one of the big, dependable 
factors in the banking world, and during the financial disturbances 
that occurred after he became a Seattle banker his calm judgment 
was one of the great forces that brought Seattle banks through two 
panic years without a failure. At the time of his death in 1 9 1 4 he 
was chairman of the board of directors of the Seattle National Bank, 
Seattle's largest financial institution. 



178 The City That Made Itself 

There are today strong and enterprising men directing the des- 
tinies of Seattle's score of banks, and to them must be given a share 
of the credit for the magnificent record in city building Seattle has 
made during the brief half century that connects the present metrop- 
olis with the saw-mill town. It is a far cry from the days when 
Dexter Horton was persuaded by his neighbors to permit them to 
leave their money buried in the coffee sack in his place of business 
to the days of the present great institutions, which figure in the 
commerce of the world and participate in great financial undertak- 
ings as a matter of every-day routine. It is a far cry only in point 
of accomplishment, for it is true of America, and particularly of 
the West — and vastly more of Seattle — that life is "not measured 
by figures on a dial" but by deeds. That Seattle has been enabled to 
leap through the period of municipal infancy and adolescence to 
full-fledged maturity, a young giant taking its place among the 
world's cities, is wonderful, and in looking for the reasons behind 
the accomplishment we do not progress far before we encounter the 
great force that has been the chief characteristic of Seattle banking 
from the time of the coffee barrel until today — Integrity and Faith. 

The seeds that were planted by Dexter Horton and Arthur A. 
Denny have grown into hardy plants that flourish in the keeping of 
Seattle's banking fraternity today. 

In the village period the only necessity of the business man 
was a place in w^hich to safely keep his money and a safe method of 
transmitting his payments for goods. The needs were small and the 
facilities were correspondingly meager. Growth up to the panic of 
1 893 found increasing demands and facilities. Eastern investments 
constituted practically all of the medium of financial exchange, and 
with stress in the East the money was called home. Despite the 
desperate situation, the banks of Seattle went through the period as 
well or better than most of the country. 

With the revival of 1 897-8 and the great advances made in the 
succeeding years up to the panic of 1907, there came a change from 
the days prior to 1893, for Alaskan money was made home capital 
for Seattle by the fortunate miners; the great development of the 
salmon industry, vast growth of lumbering in all its phases, the 
development of dairying, increasing importance of the State as a 
grain producer, quicker and more frequent communication w^ith the 
Orient, more railroads — all contributed to bringing monied men to 
Seattle as permanent residents and to making the capital used in its 
activities more a home-owned resource. For this reason the panic 
of 1907 found the banks in splendid shape. Not a soft spot devel- 
oped. Clearing-house certificates were issued for a few weeks, 



Seattle's Enviable Record 179 

solely because Seattle, in its important and close relations with other 
financial centers, could not send gold in exchange for clearing-house 
certificates of other cities without depleting its own supply. As this 
is a credit nation, no such amount of gold as would have been re- 
quired exists. Had Seattle been less important as a commercial city 
she could have avoided any issue of certificates. Although the 
issues throughout the United States were outside the letter of the 
law, the situation was met with such wisdom and sanity and con- 
servation that the people of Seattle did not hesitate to accept the 
clearing-house certificates and were in no especial hurry to redeem 
them when called in, another tribute to the personnel of the bank- 
ing community of Seattle. In this connection few cities may with 
truth point to a record such as Seattle has, that in twenty years not 
a cent of money has been lost to depositors in her banks. 

Seattle banks are in the main owned at home by something 
like 1,200 persons, and in few instances is full control of a majority 
of the stock held by any individual. The officers and em.oloyes are 
drawn from the best life of the communitv, and through the Amer- 
ican Institute of Banking careful instruction is given to the bank 
clerks, who will be the future bankers, in all the technical details of 
the profession. 

Without going much into figures, but by easily verified state- 
ments, some idea of Seattle's great advances through the several 
periods of growth may be succinctly stated in the fact that bank 
clearings in 1913 were greater than the entire total for the eight 
years from 1894-1901 inclusive; greater than in those three great 
years, 1903, 1904, 1905 added together, despite consolidations in 
1910 that reduced the amount of business eoiner to the clearing 
house. Two-fifths of the deposits in the banks of Washington are 
held in the banks of Seattle in 1914; four-fifths of the deposits in 
Seattle banks are in institutions in the blocks on Second Avenue be- 
tween the north side of Madison and James Street. In 1896 
Seattle's bank clearings corresponded about with those of Tacoma 
and Spokane, and were less than one-half those of Portland. Seattle 
today is the twenty-first city in the country in relative population 
and is the seventeenth in individual deposits in her banks; no other 
city reaches the volume of deposits or bank clearings in the territory 
of the northwestern one-fourth of the United States, i. e., in a region 
bounded on the south by a line dravm due east from the northern 
boundary of California, going as far east as Omaha and thence 
north to the Canadian boundary. This includes Portland, Denver 
and other important cities. 



180 The City That Made Itself 

Seattle today has several banks that have resulted from the 
consolidation of pioneer institutions. These mergers were due to 
the demand for banks of larger capitalization to meet the needs of 
the growing city and surrounding territory. The Dexter Horton 
National Bank absorbed the Washington Trust Company and the 
Seattle National Bank was united with the Puget Sound National in 
1910. A few years before the National Bank of Commerce ab- 
sorbed the Washington National Bank, these consolidations bring- 
ing million-dollar banks into the field. The original units had, year 
after year, increased their own capitalization and enlarged their 
fields of activities to include trust relations, bond departments and 
all of the many forms of service rendered to the business community 
by the larger banks of the East. 

Steady and intelligent work by Seattle bankers has helped to 
decrease many of the minor evils that attach to pioneer banking, 
such as overdrafting. They also have at last helped to put an effect- 
ive law on the statute books by which the private bank will be at an 
end after next January, 1915. The private bankers of the state 
have been influential and blocked this reform for years. No small 
part of the efficiency of the state banking department created in 
1907 is due to the co-operation given to the examiners by Seattle 
bankers. The office was located here in the first six years of its 
existence. 

The men who are today upholding Seattle's position in the 
financial world, and the banks with which they are connected, are 
as follovk^s: 

American Savings Bank & Trust Co. (organized 1902; capital, 
$600,000): James A. Murray, president; James P. Gleason, man- 
ager; John A. Campbell, vice-president; John K. Bush, cashier; 
George F. Russell, secretary; J. Malloy, Jr., trust officer; directors, 
James P. Gleason, John A. Campbell, James A. Murray, Marton 
Woldson, George F. Russell, W. J. Johnston, S. C. Jackson, Rufus 
H. Smith, Marcus M. Murray. 

Bank for Savings (organized 1907; capital, $400,000): Daniel 
Kelleher, president; R. Auzias-Turenne, vice-president; O. H. P. 
LaFarge, secretary; W. H. Crowther, assistant cashier; directors, R. 
Auzias-Turenne, James Campbell, August J. Ghiglione, George J. 
Danz, Griffith Davies, John W. Eddy, John Erickson, Gabriel Faure, 
Joshua Green, G. Alston Hole, Daniel Kelleher, Harry Krutz. O. 
H. P. LaFarge, Malcom McDougal. Alex F. McEwan, Ralph A. 
Schoenfeld, James Shannon, Victor Hugo Smith, Frederick K. 
Struve. C. E. Vilas, F. W. West, Louis Jalon, G. Teste Du BaiUer. 



Banks and Their Directors isi 

Dexter Horton National Bank (organized 1870; capital, 
$1,200,000): N. H. Latimer, president; R. H. Denny, vice-presi- 
dent; W. H. Parsons, vice-president; M. W. Peterson, cashier; H. 
L. Merritt, assistant cashier; C. E. Burnside, assistant cashier; J. C. 
Norman, assistant cashier; R. H. MacMichael, bond manager; 
directors, N. H. Latimer, R. H. Denny, W. H. Parsons, M. W. 
Peterson, C. J. Smith, W. M. Ladd, J. W. Clise, E. Cookingham, 
Edmund Bowden, M. E. Reed, C. E. Horton, J. T. Heffernan, A. S. 
Kerry. 

Dexter Horton Trust & Savings Bank (organized 1903; cap- 
ital, $400,000) : J. W. Clise, chairman of the board; C. J. Smith, 
president; W. H. Parsons, vice-president; J. H. Edwards, vice- 
president; W. W. Scruby, cashier; directors, N. H. Latimer, M. W. 
Peterson, W. H. Parsons, C. J. Smith, J. W. Clise, C. E. Horton, R. 
H. Denny. 

First National Bank (organized 1882; capital, $300,000): M. 
A. Arnold, president; D. H. Moss, vice-president; M. McMicken, 
vice-president; C. A. Philbrick, cashier; C. H. Howell, assistant 
cashier; directors, M. A. Arnold, Thomas Bordeaux, O. D. Fisher 
Maurice McMicken, R. D. Merrill, D. H. Moss, Patrick McCoy, H.' 
W. Rowley, Hervey Lindley. 

German- American Mercantile Bank (organized 1910; capital, 
$200,000): Ernest Carstens, president; C. S. Harley, vice-presi- 
dent; T. B. Minahan, vice-president; I. J. Riley, cashier; Horace 
Middaugh, chairman board of directors. 

National Bank of Commerce (organized 1889; capital 
$1,000,000): M. F. Backus, president; R. R. Spencer, first vice- 
president; J. A. Swalwell, vice-president; G. F. Clark, cashier; O. 
A. Spencer, assistant cashier; R. S. Walker, assistant cashier; E.' W. 
Brownell, assistant cashier; directors, E. E. Ainsworth, M. F. 
Backus, LeRoy M. Backus, W. C. Butler, John A. Campbell, G. F. 
Clark, W. G. Collins, T. A. Davies, George Donworth, Joshua Green 
H. C. Henry, C. J. Lord, R. D. Merrill, E. S. McCord, Chas. S. Miller^ 
Chas. E. Patten, R. R. Spencer, J. A. Swalwell, E. F. Sweeney, Moritz 
Thomsen, Geo. W. Trimble, Hugh C. Wallace. 

Northern Bank & Trust Company (organized 1906; capital 
$100,000): W. R. Phillips, president; F. J. Martin, vice-president;' 
O. A. Kjos, vice-president; W. L. Collier, cashier; L. P. Schaeffer, 
assistant cashier; Edward Everett, trust officer; trustees, W R 
Phillips, F. J. Martin, O. A. Kjos, Gerald Frink, W. W. Felger, Wm. 
T. Perkins, J. G. Price, Geo. N. Skinner, F. J. Carver. 



182 The City That Made Itself 

Scandinavian American Bank (organized 1892; capital, 
$500,000): A. Chilberg, president; J. E. Chilberg, vice-president; 
Perry Poison, second vice-president; J. F. Lane, cashier; L. H. 
Woolfolk, assistant cashier; S. S. Lindstrom, assistant cashier; W. 
V. Rinehart, Jr., manager Ballard office; Otto S. J. Pedersen, cashier 
Ballard office; directors, A. Chilberg, Alfred Battle, J. E. Chilberg, 
Perry Poison, Jafet Lindeberg, Jas. F. Lane, M. J. Shaughnessy, A. 
G. Hanson, C. J. Erickson. 

Seattle National Bank (organized 1890; capital, $1,000,000): 
Daniel Kelleher, chairman of the board; Frederick Karl Struve, pres- 
ident; J. W. Spangler, vice-president; R. V. Ankeny, vice-president; 
E. G. Ames, vice-president; W. S. Peachy, cashier; C. L. LaGrave, 
assistant cashier; H. C. MacDonald, assistant cashier; J. H. Nev^- 
berger, assistant cashier; directors, E. G. Ames, R. V. Ankeny, 
Daniel Kelleher, F. K. Struve, J. W. Spangler. 

Metropolitan Bank (organized 1909; capital, $100,000): H. 
C. Henry, president; J. T. McVay, vice-president and cashier; R. P. 
Loomis, assistant cashier; directors, H. C. Henry, C. H. Cobb, O. D. 
Fisher, E. S. Goodw^in, C. S. Miller, E. A. Stuart, C. C. Bronson, 
E. G. Ames, W. G. Collins, J. T. McVay, P. M. Henry. 

National City Bank (organized 1911; capital, $500,000): J. 
W. Maxwell, president; F. W. Baker, vice-president; J. H. Bloedel, 
vice-president; E. W. Campbell, cashier; N. H. Seil, assistant cashier; 
directors, C. A. Black, J. H. Bloedel, Albert Daub, F. W. Baker, F. 
T. Fischer, Robert R. Fox, F. H. Jackson, C. B. Lament, J. W. Max- 
well, C. L. Morris, Olof Olson, W. C. Prater, A. J. Rhodes, D. E. 
Skinner, David Whitcomb, Clifford Wiley, Worrall Wilson. 

The State Bank of Seattle (organized 1905; capital. $100,000) : 
E. L. Grondahl, president; A. H. Solberg, vice-president; Hugo 
Carlson, cashier; A. C. Kaklke, assistant cashier; D. H. Lutz, assist- 
ant cashier; directors, Hugo Carlson, C. J. Erickson, Herman Goetz, 
E. L. Grondahl, H. E. Lutz, Will H. Parry, A. H. Solberg. 

The Oriental American Bank (organized 1905; capital, $40,- 
000): M. Furuya, president; K. Hirade, vice-president; H. Hase- 
gawa, cashier; directors, M. Furuya, K. Hirade, C. T. Takahashi, 
W. A. Keene, M. Matsumoto. 

The Japanese Commercial Bank (organized 1907; capital, 
$50,000): M. Furuya, president; W. L. Gazzam, vice-president; 
M. Matsumoto, cashier; S. Kaw^ai, assistant cashier; directors, M. 
Furuya, W. L. Gazzam, W. A. Keene. 



Federal Reserve Headquarters 183 

Union Savings & Trust Company (organized 1903; capital, 
$600,000): James D. Hoge, president; J. D. Lowman, vice-pres- 
ident; A. B. Stev^^art, vice-president; N. B. Solner, cashier; Rollin 
Sanford, assistant cashier; E. J. Witty, assistant cashier; O. P. Dix, 
manager bond department; directors, A. B. Stewart, J. D. Low^man, 
Ferdinand Schmitz, Charles H. Clarke, John C. Eden, James D. 
Hoge, N. B. Solner. 

Peoples Savings Bank (incorporated 1889, capital $100,000): 
E. C. Neufelder, president; R. J. Reekie, vice-president; J. T. Green- 
leaf, cashier; G. B. Nicoll, J. S. Goldsmith, directors. 

Washington Savings & Loan Association : Herman Chapin, 
president; William Thaanum, vice-president; Raymond R. Frazier, 
vice-president and manager; H. D. Campbell, secretary; G. A. Bruce, 
assistant secretary; William A. Peters, counsel; directors, E. G. 
Ames, H. D. Campbell, Herman Chapin, D. E. Frederick, F. B. 
Finley, Raymond R. Frazier, W. F. Geiger, Ivar Janson, L. O. 
Janeck, Hans Pederson, William A. Peters, James Shannon, William 
Thaanum, Eugene B. Favre, C. E. Vilas. 

Seattle also has branches of \.vfo large outside banks. The 
Canadian Bank of Commerce is represented in Seattle by Grange V. 
Holt, manager, and the Bank of California by E. C. Wagner. 

Under the federal reserve bank law^ passed by Congress in 1914, 
Seattle is to have one of the branch banks. The directors of District 
No. 1 2, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, went on record 
immediately upon organization as favoring the establishment of a 
branch in Seattle. As a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San 
Francisco, Chas. E. Peabody of Seattle was appointed by the Federal 
Government in October, 1914. Mr. Peabody for many years was 
one of the most prominent shipping men on the Coast. His appoint- 
ment as a federal reserve director is a tribute to Seattle's standing in 
the financial world. 



CHAPTER TWENTY 



HOW SEATTLE WOMEN STARTED LIBRARY 



ANY history of Seattle must necessarily be a record of the ac- 
complishments of men, by nature made builders of the home 
and providers of subsistence. Of woman's participation in 
the upbuilding of the community little has been said. Yet the 
women of Seattle have played important parts in the development 
of the city that built itself. TTirough all the years of Seattle's 
growth they have labored well and unostentatiously. Today, as a 
monument to their work of years, there stands on Fourth Avenue 
between Spring and Madison Streets a wonderful public library, 
which they began and which was fostered and encouraged by them 
through all the trying years of the city's growth — a library which 
stands at the present time in the ranks of the nation's best. At this 
time public-spirited women help to guide its destinies and it is still 
growing, as it has grown, at a pace which more than keeps up with 
the development of the city in every other way. 

Seattle's Public Library, the intellectual beacon-light of the 
great Northwest, was founded in 1 888 by the women of Seattle, 
among the leaders being Mesdames J. C. Haines, A. B. Stev^^art, L. 
S. J. Hunt, W. E. Boone, G. Morris Haller, J. H. Sanderson, Joseph 
F. McNaught and Geo. H. Heilbron. Their organization was called 
the Ladies' Library Association. Its members at first secured public 
subscriptions for support of their project. TTien they persuaded Henry 
L. Yesler to give the triangle at Third Avenue, between Terrace and 
Yesler Way, to the city for public library purposes. This tract has 
since been traded for a site at Tw^enty-third Avenue and Yesler Way, 
w^here a branch know^n as the Henry L. Yesler Memorial has been 
built. 

So hard did these v^^omen vs^ork for the establishment of a 
public library that in 1 890 the city charter convention was induced 
to include a provision in the annual city budget for the support of 
this institution to the amount of ten per cent of the fines and licenses. 
The cause of the library was effectively championed before the con- 
vention by Junius Rochester and Judge Roger S. Greene. 

In 1891 the public library was launched. It was established 
in the Occidental Block, now the site of the Seattle Hotel, with A. 
J. Snoke, a scholarly gentleman, as the city's first librarian. It re- 
mained in this location for three years, being moved in 1894 to the 

184 V 




J' cyU ^cH^ 



Cc^tyt^' 



Yesler's Mansion Taken 185 



top floor of the Collins Block, at First Avenue and James Street. 
Librarian Snoke served one year and was succeeded by Mrs. L. K. 
Harnett, who held the position for one year. In 1 893, J. D. Atkin- 
son, who was later State Attorney General and is still a resident of 
Seattle, was appointed City Librarian, remaining at the work for 
about tw^o years. In 1 895 Charles Wesley Smith was elected to this 
position. He served until the completion of the present building 
and until the new^ institution had been well established, resigning in 
1907, and being succeeded by Judson T. Jennings, the present 
able librarian. 

TTie Seattle Public Library, despite its assistance from the city, 
had no easy row to hoe in the early nineties. It was then the only 
really free library in the state, the only other ones being circulating 
libraries such as are now found in small country tow^ns. Seattle's 
institution was especially hit by the hard times of I 893. During Mr. 
Atkinson's administration the city's revenue for its support was not 
sufficient to keep it going, so it had to close dov^^n, but only for one 
week. A collection was taken up and $800 raised. H. C. Henry 
alone gave $ 1 00 to the fund. Patrons of the library were charged 
ten cents a month for the use of books. Money was so scarce then 
that it brought down in one year the circulation of books from 
144,000 to 77,000. The charge drove the children's patronage away 
and this accounted largely for the decrease. 

After Mr. Smith became librarian in 1 895 the library, contain- 
ing 7,500 books, was moved to cheaper quarters in the Rialto Block, 
now the location of the Frederick & Nelson store. All possible ex- 
penses were reduced and the institution again put on a free basis. 
From that moment the growth of the library has been as phenom- 
enal as that of the city itself. Mr. Smith prided himself on the fact 
that the library not only kept pace with the material development 
of Seattle, but remained always just a little in the lead. His first 
innovation was the adoption of the open-shelf system, then new on 
the Coast. This immediately increased the popularity of the library. 
It remained in the Rialto Block for three years and on January I 2, 
1 899, was moved to the old Henry L. Yesler home, at Third and 
James. This was a forty-room residence, then one of the show 
places of the city, and probably the finest residence in the North- 
west. It had hardw^ood floors and was magnificently finished. It 
was heated by a hot-air furnace. To Librarian Smith it was a 
joyous home for the institution in whose welfare he had become 
absorbed. The library just spread itself. There was room, and a 
room for every feature that could be suggested. The bindery was 
established in the kitchen, the librarian's office in a bedroom. 



186 The City That Made Itself 

At midnight on January 1, 1901, Librarian Smith had returned 
from the library, where he worked with his assistants until half-past 
eleven to take the annual inventory of the city's books. He had 
just retired, when the telephone bell rang. 

"Is this Mr. Smith of the Public Library?" said the voice at the 
other end. On being advised in the affirmative the voice continued: 
"This is the Post-Intelligencer. How much insurance was carried 
on the library?" 

"What," yelled Mr. Smith. "Is it afire?" 

Without waiting for a reply, he dropped the telephone and ran 
outside, where the lighted sky verified his suspicions. Then he came 
back, put on a pair of rubber boots and a rubber coat, and ran from 
Beacon Hill, where he lived, through a foot of snow, down to the 
burning structure, plunged in and personally rescued the records of 
the library. The building burned to the ground, and though it then 
possessed 30,000 volumes, only about 2,000 books then on the 
shelves were finally saved. At the time 5,000 books were out in 
circulation. Inasmuch as Mr. Smith, at the risk of his life, had 
saved the record cards, the library was able to recover them. Quar- 
ters were opened in the Yesler barn, which had been saved, were 
located there for one month, moving then into the old University 
Building in the tract w^here the Metropolitan Building Company's 
structures now stand. This historic structure, since demolished, 
housed the library until the completion of the present home in 1 906. 

In the Fall of 1 900, just prior to the destruction of the library 
building by fire. Librarian Smith and Chas. E. Shepard had made a 
trip to the East to visit other libraries and to ask Mr. Carnegie to 
help Seattle in the way that was then making him famous. They 
received a cool reception from Mr. Carnegie's secretary. He advised 
them that Seattle w^as a "hot-air, " boom city, and that he had been 
so advised by S. A. Perkins, of Tacoma, and that he did not con- 
sider it worth while to suggest to Mr. Carnegie the donation of any 
amount for library purposes. So the two Seattle men came back 
empty-handed. And when the fire laid low the Yesler residence 
Seattle was not only without a library but saw before it no way to 
procure one. In spite of the rebuff the city's representatives had 
met in the outskirts of Carnegie's office, the members of the board 
who wished to restore the library after the fire could think of noth- 
ing but the Scotchman's gold when their minds grappled with the 
question of ways and means. It was a natural mental condition, for 
at that time to think of a library builder was to think of Carnegie. 
Seattle took a chance. J. G. Pyle, editor of the Post-Intelligencer, 
sent the following telegram to the Laird of Skibo: 



A Telegraphic Campaign 187 

"Seattle Public Library and its building totally destroyed by 
fire this morning. City authorities willing to purchase site and 
guarantee $50,000 annually for maintenance. Can you give 
Seattle a library building?" 

On the following morning Mr. Carnegie wired in reply: 

"Sorry indeed to hear of the library being destroyed. Seattle 
should build fireproof next time. Am disposed to give Seattle a 
suitable building if site and maintenance provided by city. Your 
wire says that city would expend $50,000 a year in maintenance, 
which may be an error in transmission. Refer you to correspond- 
ence w^ith Mr. Shepard, of library committee, last year. 

"ANDREW CARNEGIE." 

Mr. Pyle, for the Post-Intelligencer, immediately sent another 
message : 

"Sincere thanks for your generous assurance. Library reve- 
nues greatly increased this year by increase of assessed valuation. 
I am authorized by chairman of Council committee to guarantee 
$50,000 if suitable building is furnished. You may condition 
everything on provision of site and above named city maintenance 
by city. May I announce Carnegie library for Seattle tomorrow? 
Will await your reply." 

Then Mr. Carnegie telegraphed from New York to the Post- 
Intelligencer : 

"Having been in correspondence with Mr. Shepard, it v^ould 
be discourteous to ignore him. Should like you to see him and have 
him wire me. ANDREW CARNEGIE." 

Mr. Pyle had been in touch with Mr. Shepard during all this 
time and a consultation resulted in sending the two messages that 
follow: 

"I have just been appointed on Library Commission. Tele- 
grams of the Post-Intelligencer to you were sent with knowledge of 
our correspondence and with my cordial approval. We are work- 
ing in harmony and are sure of a very fine site. I would concur in 
all that Mr. Pyle wires you. "CHARLES E. SHEPARD." 

"We guarantee finest site and $50,000 maintenance for suit- 
able building. 

"CHARLES E. SHEPARD, Library Commissioner; WILL H. 
PARRY, Chairman of Library Committee, City Council; J. G. 
PYLE, Editor Post-Intelligencer." 



188 The City That Made Itself 

To these the Post-Intelligencer added another wire: 

"Telegrams sent you today after consultation with gentlemen 
signing them in my office. Will you please advise me of your deci- 
sion? J. G. PYLE, Post-Intelligencer." 

It was apparent now that Mr. Carnegie was interested and 
amazed. From New York, on Friday, he telegraphed: 

"Delighted to receive your last telegrams. There is only one 
point about which I am not clear. What does a city of 80,000 in- 
habitants need of $50,000 annually to maintain a library? Seems 
to me that this is somewhat more than is necessary for the city to 
tax itself. Atlanta has more population, and I have allowed that 
city $125,000 for the building. Presume this would give you a 
building suitable for present needs, but site should have vacant 
ground for additions. ANDREW CARNEGIE." 

This was the Post-Intelligencer's chance, and the following 
clinching argument was immediately put on the wire: 

"Increase in population from 1890 to 1900, Atlanta, 37 per 
cent; Seattle, 88 per cent. Seattle's population practically all white 
and all readers. Actual revenue for 1900 is $30,000. We would 
like to build fireproof for the future as well as for the present. In 
less than five years a building costing $250,000 and maintenance 
of $50,000 will be none too large for our real needs. Nothing from 
you to us or Shepard published yet. Can you say anything now for 
publication tomorrow? POST-INTELLIGENCER." 

An hour later Mr. Shepard and Librarian Smith followed with 
this statement: 

"Supplementing Post-Intelligencer's telegram today. I find 
home circulation, 309 days, 1900, 150,000 volumes. Approximate 
average week-day attendance, 1 ,450. Sunday attendance, 450. 
Separate newspaper reading room, 500 daily. 

"C. W. SMITH, City Librarian; C. E. SHEPARD, Library 
Commissioner. " 

That Mr. Carnegie not only was greatly interested in the enter- 
prise of Seattle, but admired the courage of the men who pleaded 
in its behalf is shown in the following message received in the Post- 
Intelligencer office at 8:20 on Saturday evening: 



Carnegie Promises Help 189 

"New York, Jan. 5. 1901. 
"J. G. Pyle, Editor Post-Intelligencer, and Library Committee, Se- 
attle, Wash.: 
"I like your pluck offering fifty thousand dollars yearly for 
library purposes. You may build up to cost two hundred thousand, 
which I shall provide as needed. We remember our visit to Seattle 
and kind reception with great pleasure and are delighted to shake 
hands, as it were, over this matter. Be sure to have spare grounds 
about building for additions which Seattle's brilliant future will 
surely require. Happy New Year to all her people. 

"CARNEGIE." 

Negotiations were closed with this message of thanks : 
"We cannot express adequately our appreciation of your mag- 
nificent gift of $200,000 for a public library building for Seattle. 
In the name of all our citizens we send you earnest and heartfelt 
thanks. The Carnegie Public Library of Seattle will stand as another 
monument to your love of letters and your generosity to a proud 
and grateful people. You have given us a golden New Year, and 
will be remembered and honored as a public benefactor through all 
the future of Seattle. 

"J. G. PYLE, for the Post-Intelligencer; CHARLES E. SHEP- 
ARD, for the Library Commission; WILL H. PARRY, for the 
Library Committee of Common Council; J. A. JAMES, for Finance 
Committee of Common Council." 

But Seattle had four years to v^^ait before the beautiful structure 
that the institution now owns w^as completed. The choice of a site 
occupied the attention of the City Council and Library Board for 
two years or more. Then, after w^ork had begun and the foundations 
were completed, the Great Northern tunnel, which passes under- 
neath, undermined the work and a year w^as consumed in adjusting 
the damage, for which the railway paid $100,000. A second claim 
for damages, to the amount of nearly half a million, is now pending. 

When the building was practically completed and things had 
cost a little more than was expected, it was found that about $20,000 
additional was needed to equip the structure. Where the money 
was to come from was a puzzle. At a meeting of the Library Com- 
missioners, the Rev. J. P. D. Llwyd, an enthusiastic member of the 
Board, suggested that he could go to Scotland, where Mr. Carnegie 
was then on his vacation, to ask the Laird of Skibo for the extra 
funds. The Board felt reluctant as to this, and thought it had no 
right to spend the money of the city for such a purpose. Dr. Llwyd 
stated, however, that he would pay his own fare across the Atlantic 



2go The City That Made Itself 

if the Board could find a way to cover his expense overland. Judge 
J. A. Stratton then suggested that the Board share the cost of the 
trip. This was done. Dr. Llwyd went to Scotland and when he 
alighted from his train at Skibo the first man he saw was Mr. Car- 
negie, who was pacing up and down the platform at the station. 
He fell in with the Laird and while they walked he introduced him- 
self and explained his mission. Mr. Carnegie was visibly and vol- 
ubly agitated. 

"Why do you follow me to the ends of the earth?" he fairly 
yelled, "I just come here for the purpose of getting away from such 
things as libraries." 

Dr. Llwyd kept in step and persisted. 

"All right, I'll give you the $20,000," said Carnegie after he 
had become sufficiently interested in the conversation to stand still 
and give the Seattle clergyman an opportunity properly to present 
his case. 

Thus Seattle received $220,000 from Carnegie for its big li- 
brary. Since that time he has given funds to the amount of $105,000 
for the building and equipping of branch libraries in various parts of 
the city. Altogether the library property of the city totals in value 
in 1914 more than $1,000,000. 

Seattle, always a maker of epochs and in the advance guard 
of progress, in securing its donation of $200,000 for a library 
building set a new pace in giving for Mr. Carnegie. Prior to his 
Seattle gift, he had given so large sum to only two other cities in 
the country, Pittsburg, his home city, and Washington, D. C. 

The big library, located on a full block in the heart of the city, 
has been so planned as to permit additions in the future to make it 
three times its present size. When the building was opened to the 
public on December 19, 1906, it represented an investment of 
$350,000. Mr. Smith, the Librarian, anticipated that its cost would 
reach a larger sum than Mr. Carnegie's donation and had econo- 
mized with his appropriation from the city. Thus he was enabled 
to turn over a large sum of money toward the building. In the 
Charter Convention of 1895 city boards and commissions were abol- 
ished, but Mr. Smith appeared before it and urged the retention of 
the Librarv Commission. He was successful and, though it legis- 
lated out the women, a commission of five, advisory to the Librarian, 
was incorporated in the charter. It had no powers, however, and 
only met once a year to hear the Librarian's report. When the 
library got too large for one man's shoulder. Mr. Smtih prevailed 
upon the Council to submit a charter amendment to restore the 
Board to power. During all of Mr. Smith's administration his esti- 



Library Board Members 191 

mates in the city budgets were allowed without a cut, the only city de- 
partment which enjoyed this rare distinction. Mr. Smith also framed 
the state library law, which has served as a model for other states 
and which is responsible for the high development of the library 
movement in this State. 

Mrs. J. C. Haines is the real founder and originator of the 
library movement in Seattle. She remained as a member of the 
Library Board from the day it w^as organized until 1895, w^hen 
women were legislated from such commissions. 

The first Chairman of the Board, who served for many years 
in that capacity, w^as Judge Eben Smith, a courtly gentleman in 
whom the people had much confidence and who thus was able to 
carry the library's influence over the crucial periods of its existence. 
The member of the Board w^ho has served the longest of the present 
incumbents is Judge Julius A. Stratton, a venerable gentleman 
whose willingness to work for the public good without reward is 
largely responsible for the growth of the present library system of 
Seattle. Other members of the Board wAxo have served at various 
times since the establishment of the library are: 

Eben Smith James Murphy 

George Donworth Samuel Morrison 

Rev. David C. Garrett Daniel B. Trefethen 

Alexander F. McEwan Jacob Schaefer 

Charles E. Shepard John W. Efaw 

Charles A. Taylor Miss Adele M. Fielde 

Edwin W. Craven O. H. P. La Farge 

Robert H. Lindsay Rev. Samuel Koch 

Harry A. Chadwick J. Allen Smith 

G. A. C. Rochester Mrs. W. A. Burleigh 

Rev. J. P. D. Llwyd Julius A. Stratton 

Rev. W. A. Major C. M. Sheafe 

James H. Lyons, M. D. Mrs. A. B. Stewart 

Sidney S. Elder R. C. Washburn 

Andrew Weber Mrs. J. C. Haines 

George E. Wright John E. Ayer 

Frederick M. Padelford Mrs. C. H. Wilcox 

Branch libraries occupying beautiful buildings have been es- 
tablished in the communities known as Ballard, Columbia, Fremont, 
Green Lake, the University, Queen Anne Hill. West Seattle, George- 
tow^n, Yesler Way, and in the schools and playgrounds. 

The Central Library and its branches contain 219,927 volumes 
and report a regular registered patronage for the year ending June 
30, 1914, of 55,203 persons, with a circulation of 1,041,002 volumes. 



CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. 



WHEN JOHN COLLINS GOT A GAS FRANCHISE 



IT was not in the nature of things that men of the stamp that 
battled for Seattle's early possessions and for homes for them- 
selves in the virgin forests would be content to be w^ithout any 
luxury that was at all procurable. Early in the seventies John 
Collins decided that Seattle should have a gas plant. He inter- 
ested A. A. Denny, Dexter Horton and Charles E. Burrows, and 
on June 6, 1873, the City Council granted the four men an exclu- 
sive franchise to lay mains in the city streets for a period of twenty- 
five years. Mr. Collins vs^as Mayor at the time and the Council- 
men who granted the franchise were John Leary, Isaiah Waddell, 
Robert Abrams, James McKinley, J. S. Anderson, William Mey- 
denbauer and Stuart Crichton. 

A small tank was located on the tide flats near where the 
Oregon-Washington depot now stands, and from it gas was dis- 
tributed in 1 874 to the business houses and residences. It was 
quite the proper thing at the time to have gas lights in the house 
and those who had them moved in a higher social scale than those 
v/ho still retained oil lamps as a source of light. 

For nearly ten years the one little tank supplied all the demand, 
but early in the eighties the population of the city was climbing to 
the ten thousand mark and the need for a larger gas supply was felt. 
In this emergency John Collins acted with great vigor. He induced 
Captain Renton, John Leary and others to invest with the original 
group. At that time there was talk in Europe and in the East of a 
new light that was to revolutionize the lighting industry, so Mr. 
Collins and his associates provided for possible expansion in the 
new field by naming the company that wras now organized the 
Seattle Gas & Electric Light Company. The work of installing a large 
tank, greater than v^as necessary for the city at the time, received 
the personal supervision of both Collins and Leary, the former be- 
ing particularly active. In fact, it has been said of him that he 
spent almost two years doing nothing but w^alking around the tank. 
It w^as not only as an investment that w^ould provide dividends that 
Mr. Collins regarded the gas company's extensions; he v^as one of 
the most loyal citizens Seattle ever had and it gave him joy to pro- 
vide the city with a bigger and better gas system than any other 
city on the Sound possessed. And it took nerve to do it; to make 
the investment a paying one the city had to grow, but Collins never 

192 





Two Phutographs from Identirally the Same Spot Which Show the Development of the Commercial 
Bistnct. That Part of Elliott Bay Which Is Shown Extending to the Extreme Left of the 
I pper Photograph Has Been Filleil In and Covered with Commercial Houses as Shown in the 
I-ower Photograph. 



Two Companies Merge 193 

had any doubt as to Seattle's future greatness and his optimism was 
sufficient to bring him the additional capital he needed from Dexter 
Horton, A. A. Denny, John Leary and others. The whole city was 
interested in the slow^ly growing tank, and w^hen gas w^as first made 
and delivered from the new quarters there was a mild celebration. 

The history of the development of the gas company in Seattle 
is not as exciting as is the history of any of the other big public 
utilities for the reason that there were no violent rows to mark its 
progress. John Collins purchased the Renton interests in the first 
company and in 1 892 the Seattle Gas & Electric Company was 
organized, Samuel Hill, J. D. Farrell, J. S. Goldsmith and associates 
taking over the majority interests of John Collins and merging the 
tw^o companies. To manage the new company C. R. Collins was 
brought out from Philadelphia in 1 895 and he remained with the 
company for six years. 

In 1901 J. W. Clise. C. R. Collins and H. R. Clise organized 
the Citizens Light & Power Company and decided to give battle to 
the company already in the field. L. C. Smith and William Notting- 
ham, of Syracuse, N. Y., financed the new^ company, w^hich soon 
commenced an energetic campaign for business. They laid mains 
in the business districts already served by the old company and also 
opened new^ territory, supplying Capitol Hill and other districts 
which previously had had no gas. 

In 1 904 the Seattle Lighting Company, the present organiza- 
tion, was formed and took over both the companies then in the field. 
It really meant the purchasing of the entire gas business by the 
Dawes interests, the Chicago concern that controls the gas supply in 
a large number of American cities. The present officers of the 
lighting company are: J. D. Farrell, president; John Schram, vice- 
president; H. R. Clise, secretary; F. K. Lane, manager. 

The expansion of the gas business under the present organiza- 
tion has been very great. There are now (1914) 42,400 consumers 
in the city, supplied by 541 miles of mains. Most modern appliances 
of every kind enable the company to supply a perfect service, which 
is a fitting monument to the ambitious beginning that John Collins 
made forty years ago. 



JACOB FURTH, BANKER AND GOOD CITIZEN 



OVER here, in the back of the book, so as to leave his memory 
with you when you close the volume, I wish to bear brief 
tribute to the memory of the man to whom I dedicate my 
work. When the book was first planned 1 discussed it with Jacob 
Furth, and in that kindly and courteous way that endeared him to all 
who knew him, he assured me of his support. In recurring confer- 
ences with him many features of the book as it stands today w^ere 
decided upon as a result of his suggestion. That the pages are not 
taken up with biographies of the men prominent in the building of 
the city is due to Mr. Furth's advice, and the absence of pictures of 
living men is also due to a suggestion by him. 

"What we want," he said, "is a story about the fights the city 
had to make itself; the people who will read it are not concerned 
with the birthplace of any of the men who engaged in the fight, or 
how old they are now, or were at the time of their deaths. And also 
let us have one volume that will not be full of the portraits of those 
who are willing to buy their way into it and of eulogy of those who 
are prepared to purchase it." 

Our agreement was that Mr. Furth would sign a Forew^ord 
to the book, but death cut him off when the work w^as half w^ay 
finished. 

Mr. Furth "was never Mayor of the city; for one term only he 
was president of the Chamber of Commerce. He never sought posi- 
tions that placed him in the public eye; but during all the momen- 
tous periods in the history of the city after he came to it those who 
were foremost in her fights were comforted by the know^ledge that 
he -was available, that his w^ise counsel v/as ever ready v^hen he was 
appealed to. On such occasions his cool judgment and great abil- 
ity to make the right decision instantly were one of the city's real 
assets; he never failed to fill the breach when an emergency v/as 
presented, and such a relentless judge as time has yet to show an 
instance when his regard for the public good was not the final de- 
termining consideration in the settlement of any problem that came 
before him. 

Furth, the man, and Furth, the banker, were one and the same. 
He carried his kindliness to his counting room and many a tottering 
business weathered its little storm with his assistance. 

I v^^ill relate but one instance out of the thousands that might 
find a place in any record of the life and deeds of Jacob Furth. In 

194 



Furth Prevents a Panic 195 

the panic of 1 893 Seattle was hard hit ; the first transcontinental 
railroad was just coming to it, but had not as yet been of any great 
financial benefit; it w^as before the Klondike rush — before anything 
had happened to prove beyond all question that Seattle would be the 
future city of Puget Sound. The panic was the last straw^. Mr. 
Furth w^as president of a bank but did not control it. The directors 
met and decided to call in practically all the loans. 

"Gentlemen," said Mr. Furth, rising in his place at the head 
of the table, "if you do this you will ruin many business men who 
were assured by me when they began to do business with this bank 
that they would be taken care of; you will create a financial condi- 
tion that we can perhaps weather but which will bring other 
institutions crashing down around us. What you propose may be 
good banking, but it is not human. As president of this bank I 
will not yield to see my friends ruined on the sorry pretext of saving 
ourselves. I demand ten days' delay in putting your resolution into 
effect; at the expiration of that time I w^ill have a plan to propose." 

The delay being granted, Mr. Furth went to New York, raised 
sufficient money to buy the control in his bank and brought back 
with him not only enough for his own institution, but sufficient to 
also enable him to extend relief to rival banks. There are great 
fortunes in Seattle today that have their foundations in that meet- 
ing of directors when Mr. Furth demanded that humanity be allowed 
to enter banking. During that period of unrest, uncertainty and 
financial stress Mr. Furth allow^ed his reserve to drop as low as nine 
per cent, a brave thing to do at a time when it was considered that 
tw^enty-five per cent was fairly close to the margin of safety. It 
reflected the faith Mr. Furth had in his fellow man, and his willing- 
ness to strain the bank's resources to keep a tottering situation well 
in hand. Throughout his whole banking career he was one of the 
giants upon whose strength Seattle leaned confidently, but he was 
a kindly, far-seeing, charitable giant who ever used his strength to 
help instead of to crush. 

In my quest for information to put into this book I followed the 
trail of many men through their years of activity for the public good. 
The one among the living w^ho came most frequently into the stories 
was Judge Thomas Burke. For forty years he has served Seattle, 
for thirty years of that time he served beside Jacob Furth, so is bet- 
ter equipped than any other man to judge of the value that Mr. 
Furth has been to growing Seattle. Grim fate has ordained that by 
the restrictions he himself suggested for my book Jacob Furth has 
qualified to have his portrait included in the volume; his other wish 
— that these pages should be free from autobiographies — I will re- 



196 The City That Made Itself 

spect, and leave to his old friend, Judge Burke, the task of voicing 
what all who knew^ Mr. Furth must feel. In the Post-Intelligencer 
of June 3, 1914, the morning after Mr. Furth died. Judge Burke was 
quoted as follows: 

"Jacob Furth was an unusual man. To exceptional ability he 
united a high order of public spirit and great kindness of heart. It 
would be difficult to overestimate his work in the upbuilding of Se- 
attle. His time, his strength and his money w^ere always at the call 
of the city. In his many years of residence here I doubt if he was 
ever once called upon for help or leadership in any public matter, in 
which he failed to respond and respond cheerfully, liberally and with 
genuine public spirit. 

"He was a man of sound judgment and admirable balance. He 
never lost his head no matter how great the excitement or agitation 
around him was. No one could hold fifteen minutes' conversation 
with him without feeling that he was talking with a man of great 
reserve power. 

"He was a man of courage and wonderful self-control. He 
kept his own counsel, w^hether it related to the transaction of his 
large and varied business affairs or to the numberless acts of kind- 
ness which he was constantly doing for others. 

"It has fallen to the lot of few bankers, in this or any other 
community, to do so many acts of substantial kindness for his cus- 
tomers and for others. Many a man in this community owes a debt 
of gratitude to Jacob Furth for a helping hand at a critical juncture 
in his affairs. His passing from the scene of action here is, and 
will continue to be for many years to come, a serious loss to Seattle." 





Three Years of Progress in the Denny Hill Regnide District. 





Water and Steam Were Used in Lonering the Hills That Were Blocliins the Growth of the Citj-. 





The Change Wrought ui the Curner uf Second Avenne and Virginia Street in Two Tears. 





Two Years' Progress In Making Over a Business Street. Tlie Chureli in the Right of the Lower 
Picture Is Now Being Replaeed by Panlages Theatre. 




CHAKGES m OHE OF 
THB,RE6RAIiE CEHJU^ 



206 





]:x>n'eriiig Some Street Grades and Raising Others Were Features of Seattle's Great Regrade Projects. 



207 



i 




Three Years of Development in the Kegrade District. The Center IMi-ture SUowb lluw Closely the 
Erection of New Buildings Followed the Razing: of the Old Ones. 




Some Private Property Remained at the Old Level While the Streets Were Being Cut Through. 




PracticaUy All the Buildings Shown in This Photograph Were Erected Witliin a Period of Ten Years.. 




LKioking Up Madison Street During the Ree:>^<le £ra and Now. 




Luokiiij; Ni>rth uii Sefoud -V\fuue in ISIJU. 




Looking in the S;ime nireotion Today. 




THE omNOES "wrovoKr M FiKsr pm. 




i<^,f^ ■ ^r'^'^'^^-^'r-^k'^W^mm 




liOokiDg TowiirU the Harbor from the Tower of the L. C. Smith Building. 




SniiiKiiiK^ llie Camera I p the Hill fnnii the L. C Smith Building, the Shadow of the Tower Being 

Noticeable in the Pielure. 




Looking Ip Second Avenue in 1891 and Now. Tlie .Same Two BiiildlnBH Are in the Foregronnd 

of Each Picture. 



221 




lK>okiiis Towards the Harbor in the Early Eighties. 




A Modern View from the Same Spot as the Above. The Vacant Blorks in the Foreground Were 
Cleared of Their Buildings and Lowered by the Jaclison .Street Regrade. 




-■fc-.t, ■ i, jr-^i 



Seattle's Earliest Stores and the Buildings That Now Oroupy Their Sites 





Comer of Third Avenue and I'nion Street at an Interval <»f Twenty-§even Years. Beyond the Post- 

otfioe in the Lower Phot«>g:rHph the White, Henry and Cobli Buildings 

of the Metropolitan Building Company Are Shown. 




THE. PKOC32E5S CF HieST JNE. 



233 




TliiRiT^'EARS OFPROGRLSS 

OCCIDENTAL AVENUE 
LOOKING NORTH TO YESLER WAY 




Looking: Up Madison Street a Few Years Ago and Now. 





Three Decades of Change in First Avenue. 



239 




LEARV BUILDINO- 



Seattle Offers Studies in Every School of Architecture. 




Photogrrapbg Chosen at Random whiih {iive a Glimpse of Commercial Seattle. 




Types of Buildings in the Business Centers. 




Modem Apartment Buildings Are Found Everywhere in Seattle. 




Homes of Every Type Take Advantuse of the Sellings thjit Nature Provides. 



240 




The Children ,.f Seattle Are Encouraged to Make Inlelllsent I »e of the Playgrounds. 



2B1 




- r* 



S 1- 

a2 






0. c 



253 



INDEX 



A Page 

Abrams. Robert 58,90. 192 

Ackerson, John W 155 

Agen. John B !40 

Ainsworth, E. E 161, 181 

Ainsworth, J. C 37 

Alaska Building 165 

Alaska Cable 1 75 

Alaska Purchase... : 16 

Alaska Railroad 159 

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exjxjsition.... 

146, 160-162 

Alki Bathing Beach 150 

Allen, Frank P., Jr 161 

Allen, John B 12, 141 

Allen, Watson 96 

Alexander, Geo. N 83 

American Savings Bank & Trust Co. 1 80 

Ames, Edgar 89, 93, 95 

Ames, E. G 182, 183 

Ames, Henry Semple 89 

Ammidon, Edward H 75 

Anderson, A. C 90 

Anderson, A. J 145 

Anderson, J. S 192 

Andrews, Addie 138 

Andrews, Eva 138 

Andrews, E. W 95. 161 

Andrews, J. R. 133 

Andrews, L. B 31, 143 

Andrews, Wm. R 138, 153 

Ankeny, R. V 182 

Annexation of Suburbs 33 

Area, Land and Water 33 

Argus 135 

Aria, T 161 

Arms, R. M 127 

Armstrong, Charles 89 

Arnold, M. A 181 

Atkins, Mayor H. A 31. 34 

Atkinson, J. D 185 

Augustine & Kyer 14 

Austin, Isabella 146 

Auzias-Turrenne, R 180 

Aver. John E 191 

B 

Backus. M. F 112, 181 

Backus, LeRoy M 181 



Page 

Baeder, Louis 161 

Bagley, C. B 129, 136, 143, 157 

Bagley, Rev. Daniel 

80, 129, 138, 141, 142, 143 

Bagley, Dr. H. B 84 



Bailey Gatzert 
Bailey, Mark . 
Bailey, W. E. 
Baillargeon, J. 
Baker, Charles 
Baker, F. W... 
Baker & Balch 
Balch, A. C. .. 



The 



134, 

A. & Co. 
H 



28 

144 

152, 153, 164 

90 

125 

161, 182 

123 

123 



.158, 



Balfour, Guthrie & Co 1 1 I 

Ballard Annexed 33 

Ballard, W. R 114 

Ballinger, Richard A 34 

Bank for Savings 180 

Bank of California 183 

Banks, Lyman 140 

Banks, Rev. L. A 8 

Banks of Seattle I 76-183 

Barker, Abram 153 

Barker, W. W 70 

Barnard, F. J 140 

Barnard, William Edward 145 

Barnes, W. H 163 

Barlh, F. Edgar 163 

Battle, Alfred 158, 161, 182 

Battle, Edgar 171 

Batwell, E. A 136 

Baxter, D. N 88 

Beach, Walter Greenwood 1 46 

Beach, W. M 133 

Beaton, Kenneth C 135 

Beaton, Welford 161 

Bebb & Mendel 169 

Bechdolt, Adolph Frederic 144 

Beechler. Glenn C 163 

Begg, Alexander 134 

Bell, Austin A 130 

Bell, Laura 138 

Bell, Olive 138 

Bell, Virginia 138 

Bell, William N 6, 20. 21. 23. 70 

Bennett. B. E 153 

Benson, Henry Kreitzer 146 

Bert, Fred W., Jr 163 



261 



262 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Bigelow, Luicius R 131 

Black. C. A 182 

Black, Frank D 34. 90 

Blackwell. J. D 95 

Blaine. E. F 58. 151. 152. 153 

Blaine, Mrs. (Rev.) D. E 138 

Blethen. Alden J 1 3. 1 34. 1 58. 1 61 

Blethen. C. B 134 

Blethen. Joseph 134.158 

Bloedel. J. H 182 

Blunck. F. T 90. 104. 105 

Bogue. V. C 65 

Bolton. Frederick Elmer 146 

Bond. H. G 90 

Bon Marche 14 

Bone. Scott C 133. 158. 159. 160 

Boole. George 1 61 

Boone. W. E 153. 168 

Boone. Mrs. W. E 168. 184 

Bordeaux. Thomas 166. 181 

Boren. C. D 6.20.21.22. 129 

Boren. Gertrude 138 

Boren. Mary 138 

Boren. Wm 138 

Boulevards 147-153 

Bowden. Edmund 140. 181 

Bowman. W. G 110 

Boyd. W. P. & Co 90 

Boyle, Judge 89 

Boyle, Henry 90 

Boyns. Roberts 163 

Brace, J. S 96. 158 

Brainerd. Eraslus. ... 133. 134, 136. 153 

Brawley. D. C 90 

Bridges. Robert 72.97 

Broderick. Henry 161 

Bronson. C. C 182 

Brookes. Albert M 90, 171 

Brooks. R. H 172 

Brown. Amos 31.53.90. 165 

Brown. Beriah 34. 130 

Brown, Beriah. Jr 133 

Brown, Edward H 130 

Brown & Son 130 

Brownell. E. W 181 

Bruce. G. A 183 

Bryan. Edgar 80 

Buildings 164-169 

Bull. Homer L 163 

Burgess. W. E 153 

Burke. Judge Thomas 8, 9, 42 

43. 44. 45. 46. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53 



Page 
54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59, 60. 63. 68 
69, 84, 91. 92. 100, 103, 105. 107 
114. 124. 134. 139. 140, 155. 156 
157. 158. 162. 164. 165. 195, 196 

Burleigh. Mrs. W. A 191 

Burnett. C. H 31 

Burnett, Charles Pye 136 

Burnett, Hiram 30 

Burns. Mrs. (Capt.) F. J 106 

Bums. John 90 

Burnside. C. E 181 

Burrows. Charles E 192 

Burwell. A. P 140 

Burwell. Edward B 58 

Bush. John K 180 

Butler. Hillory 23, 143 

Butler. W. C 181 

Byers, Horace G 145 



Caine, Capt. Elmer E 58 

Calhoun. Mrs. U 143 

Calhoun. Dr. G. V 140 

Calhoun. Scott 1 16 

Calhoun, S. G 31 

Calhoun. Wm. M 161 

Call (Newspaper) 133.134 

Campbell. E. W 182 

Campbell. H. D 183 

Campbell, James 157. 180 

Campbell. John 90 

Campbell. John A 180. 181 

Campbell. William 90 

Canadian Bank of Commerce 183 

Canadian Pacific Railway.... 42. 44. 49 

Canfield. Eugene 44. 45. 46 

Cann. T. H 81. 153 

Card. John C 90 

Card. Mary S 90 

Carkeek. Morgan J 105. 163 

Carlson. Hugo 182 

Carnegie, Andrew 

186. 187. 188, 189. 190 

Carr, Edmund M. 8. 24. 138. 142. 158 

Carr. O. J 143. 171 

Carr. Mrs. O. J 138 

Carstens. Earnest 163, 181 

Carver, F. J 181 

Case, Otto A 163 

Cavanaugh, M. L 90 

Cedar River Water Supply 74-83 

Chadwick. Harry A 135. 191 



Index 



263 



Page 
Chamber of Commerce 1,13 

72. 88. 89. 90. 92. 94. 95. 154-160 

Chamberlin. Ellen Jeannette 144 

Chapin. E. C 114 

Chapin. Herman.. 58. 90. 153. 164. 183 

Chas. H. Lilly & Co 14 

Charter Granted City 31 

Chase. E. F 135 

Cheasty. Edward C 152. 153 

Cheasty's Haberdashery 14 

Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul 47 

Chicago. Burlington & Quincy R. R. 63 

Chief Seattle 21 

Chilberg. Andrew _ 181.182 

Chilberg. J. E 157 

158. 159. 160. 161. 165. 181. 182 

Chin Gee Hee 40 

Chinese Riots 8 

Chittenden. Gen. H. M 72. 98 

Choir. Melody 153 

Chronicle 1 34 

City Lighting Plant 126-127 

Clancy, Thomas 70. 1 38 

Clark. C. H 153 

Clark. Charlie 138 

Clark. E. A 138 

Clark. G. F 181 

Clarke, Charles H 183 

Clausen. C. C 72 

Clayton. Miss Lizzie 138 

Clinto Stone & Coal Co.. Ltd 90 

Clise. H. R 75.76. 193 

Clise. J. W 58.96 

153. 157. 158. 161. 168. 181. 193 

Clough, Col. W. P 49 

Coats. A. F 166 

Cobb. C. H 166. 182 

Cochrane. William 43 

Coe. Dr. F. H 140. 141 

Cole. Geo. B 163 

Cole. George Seaverns 146 

Colkett. W. J 140. 172 

Collier. W. L 181 

Collins. C. R 161. 193 

Collins Block 27 

Collins. John 7.27.31.34 

38. 53. 81. 90. 157. 164. 192. 193 

Collins. Josiah 158. 161 

Collins. Luther M 19 

Collins. R. H 96 

Collins. W .G 166. 181. 182 

Colmam Building 28 



Page 

Colman. James M 

...7.28, 38. 39.40.41.53.58. 150 

Colman Park 150 

Columbia Annexed 33 

Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad 48 

Colvin. O. D 96 

Commercial Club 163 

Commercial Electric Lighting Co. .. 124 

Condon, Herbert Thomas 146 

Condon. John Thomas 145 

Conover. C. T 131. 136 

Considine. John W 1 6, 1 7 

Constant, Florence 144 

Consumers' Electric Co 113, 124 

Cookingham, E 181 

Coombs, Louisa 1 38 

Coombs, Samuel F 1 70 

Cooper, Frank B 140, 141 

Coppin Water System 80 

Cort, John 16, 17 

Cotterill, Cora R 90 

Cotterill. Geo. F 34. 75, 76, 90 

Cotterill. Roland W 149, 153, 163 

Cowen, Charles 150 

Cowen Park 150 

Cradens, S. L 96 

Craven, Edwin W 191 

Crawford & Conover 90 

Crawford, S. L. 90.96. 130. 131. 136 

Crawford. W. R 116 

Crichton, Stuart 192 

Crow. James J 143 

Crow. Joe 138 

Crowther. W. H 180 

Cummings. E. W 83 

Currie. J. W 43. 44 

D 

Danz, George J 96. 180 

Daub. Albert 182 

Davidson, George Millard 1 44 

Davies, Griffith 43.89. 171. 180 

Davies. T. A 181 

Davis, John 161 

Dawson, James Frederick 161 

Day, B. F 90, 141 

Dearborn, George F 150 

Dearborn, Mrs. George F 150 

Dearborn Park 150 

DeLin, Anders F 138 

DeLin, Christine 138 

DeLin, Mary 138 



264 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Dempsey. T. H 133. 134 

Denny, Arthur A 

6. 7. 19. 20. 21, 24. 29, 37, 38, 39 
53, 78, 129, 138, 142, 143, 145. 165 

170. 174, 176. 177. 178. 192. 193 

Denny-Blaine Park 150 

Denny, Chas. L 140 

Denny, David T 19. 20 

2 1 . 24, 25. 30. 43. 80, 84, 1 00, 1 03 

107. 115. 124. 139. 147. 150. 153 

Denny. Inez 1 38 

Denny. Loretta 1 38 

Denny, Louisa 1 38 

Denny. Mary J 138 

Denny. Nora 1 38 

Denny Park 150 

Denny Party Arrives 19 

Denny, R. H 177. 181 

Denny-McCombs Water System 80 

D. T. Denny & Sons 111. 112. 116 

Densmore, M 140 

Devers, Robert A 163 

Dexter Horton Estate 27 

Dexter Horton & Co 80. 90 

Dexter Horton National Bank 

138, 177, 180 

Dexter Horton Trust & Savings 

Bank 181 

Dilling. Geo. W 34 

Dillon, T. J 133 

Dimmock. A. H 69 

Dix, O. P 183 

Dodge. J. W 158 

Domestic Steam Heat & Lighting Co 1 24 

Donworth, George 140. 181. 191 

Dosch. Henry E 161 

Douglas. J. F 158. 166 

Douty. Daniel Ellis 144 

Draham, M. G 166 

Ducharme, F. T 90 

Ducharme, Geo. A 90 

Durie, David E 89.90 

Duwamish River Area 33 



Eastwood. Everett Ov^ren 146 

Eckstein, Nathan 140. 141 

Eddy, John W 180 

Eden, John C 183 

Edmonston. J. K 1 1 6 

Edwards, J. H 181 

Edwards. Marion 144 



Page 

Edwards. William Franklin... 144. 145 

Efaw. John W 191 

Egan, Charles 30 

Elder. Sidney S 191 

Electric Lights 120-127 

Elliot Bay Area 33 

Elliot, Major George H 85 

Elwell, Will T 136 

Ely, Walter 158 

Epler. Judge James M 58 

Epler. W. F 90 

Erickson. C. J 182 

Erickson Construction Co 69 

Erickson. John 180 

Ernst, A. B 152. 153 

Eshelman, Albert D 89 

Evans. C. M 153 

Everett & Interurban Ry. Co 1 15 

Everett, Edward 181 

hwald. Carl A 163 



Farrell. J. D 48. 161. 193 

Faure, Gabriel 180 

Favre. Eugene B 183 

Fay, Capt. Robert C 19 

Federal Reserve Bank 183 

Felger. W. W 181 

Ferry, Governor Elisha P 

41.87.89.90.93 

Ferry. Pierre P 140 

Fielde. Miss Adele M 191 

Finley. F. B 183 

Finn. C. C 163 

Fire of 1889 9 

First Avenue Cable Ry. Co 1 1 7 

First National Bank 90, 181 

Fischer Bros 90 

Fischer, F. T 182 

Fishing Industry 15-16 

Fisher, G. W 161 

Fisher, O. D 166, 181, 182 

Flad, Col. Henry 89 

Folger, Captain 20 

Foote. A. H 164 

Ford. J. C 151. 153. 161 

Forehand, J. A 163 

Fort Lawton Purchase 12 

Foster, Joseph 142 

Fowler. C. E 153. 161 

Fowler. George 89 

Fox. Robert R 161. 182 



Index 



265 



Page 

Frauenthal Bros 90 

brazier, Raymond R 183 

Frazier. S. R 134 

Frederick & Nelson 14, 185 

Frederick. D. E 158, 183 

Freeman, Miller 97. 135 

Frein, Pierre Joseph — 146 

Prink, Gerald 181 

Frink, J. M 14,90. 115 

120, 121, 123. 140, 151, 152. 153 

Frink Park 151 

Front Street Cable Line 1 1 0, I 1 4 

Frye, Charles H 14. 89 

Frye. George F 23. 24 

Frye, Theodore Christian 146 

Frye-Bruhn Co 90 

Fuller, Almon Homer 145 

Fuller, F. L 153 

Furhman, Henry 90 

Furth, Jacob 10,53,90 

95, 110, 113, 114, 117, 118. 119 

125. 157. 161. 177, 194, 195, 196 

Furth, Jacob. Appreciation of 195 

Furuya. M 182 

G 

Gaggin & Gaggin 1 69 

Galbraith. J. E 140 

Gardner. Albro 89 

Gardner. Albro. Jr 1 63 

Garfielde. Selucius 38 

Garrett, Rev. David C 191 

Garrettson, H .G 87 

Gas 192-193 

Gasch,Melhorn & Levi^is Brick Block 24 

Gatch, Thomas Milton 144. 145 

Gates. Cassius E 163 

Gatzert. Bailey.. I 5. 34. 1 1 0, 1 1 7. I 57 

Gatzert, Schwabacher Land Co 90 

Gazette. The 30 

Gazette. Seattle's first newspaper 128 

Gazzam. W. L 182 

Gee Lee 107 

Geiger. W. F 183 

George. Almina 141 

Georgetown Annexed 33 

German-American Mercantile Bank 1 8 1 

Ghiglione, August J 180 

Gibbons. John 85 

Gill. H. C 34 

Gilliam, Bill 23 

Gilliam, Wm. H 1 70 



Page 

Gilman, Daniel H 

42,43,44,46,60, 114, 134 

Gilman. L. C 58. 60 

Gilmore. David 58 

Gleason, James P 180 

Glen, Irving Mackey 146 

Glenn, Col. M. W 83 

Goldsmith. J. S 158. 161. 183. 193 

Goetz, Herman 182 

Goodner, Ivan Wilbur 146 

Goodwin, E. S 182 

Gorham, William H 163 

Gottstein, M. A 163 

Gottstein, Myer 89 

Gould, A. Warren 165 

Government Canal Area 33 

Gowen, Rev. Herbert Henry 146 

Graham, David 138, 143 

Graham, R. J 147. 150. 153 

Graham. Walter 80 

Graham. William T 80 

Grambs. W. J 

88. 113. 114. 116. 119. 124 

Grant. Frederic J 130. 131 

Grant Street Electric Ry. Co. 1 15. 1 16 

Graves. E. 89.90. 157 

Graves. Frank Pierf)ont 145 

Great Northern Railway 

11. 29. 47. 49. 50, 51, 53. 55. 56 
57. 59. 60. 63. 65. 68. 81.94. 189 

Greater Seattle 32 

Green Lake Area 33 

Green. Joshua 158. 180. 181 

Green, T. M 153 

Greene, Judge Roger S 9, 184 

Greenleaf, J. T 183 

Griffith, Luther Henry 

80. 104, 105, 106, 107. 108 

109. 110. 111. 112. 114. 117, 122 

Griffith Water System 80 

Griffiths. Austin E 152 

Grondahl, E. L 182 

Guarantee Loan & Trust Co 90 

Guernsey. A. A 140 

Guernsey, G. C 87 

Guindon, Capt. John 23 

Guion, F. M 140 

Gund, George F 88 

H 

Haan, John 144 

Hadley, Roy 158, 160 



266 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Haggelt, Arthur Sewall 146 

Haight, James A 169 

Haines, J. C 1 07. 1 1 0. 1 1 4. 1 57 

Haines. Mrs. J. C 184. 191 

Haines. R. R 173 

Hale, Julius F 89 

Hall. David Connolly 146 

Hall. Geor-e W 34. 70 

Hall. Ike M 31. 129 

Hall. John H 138. 145 

Hall. Mary V 90 

Hall & McNamara 129 

Hall & Paulson Furniture Co 90 

Hall & White 129 

Haller. G. Morris.... 8.9.43, 105. 107 

Haller. Mrs. G. Morris 184 

Haller. Granville 90. 153 

Haller. T. N 153 

Haller Estate. G. Morris 90 

Hamilton. Edward John 144 

Hamlin. H. H 90 

Hamm. Detrich 97 

Handbury. Thomas H 85 

Hanford. Clarence.. 122. 129. 130 

Hanford. Judge Cornelius H 

8. 9. 10. 42. 46 

50. 58. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 129, 1 71 

Hanford, Edward 23 

Hanford. Frank 8,90. 129 

Hanford. Thaddeus 81. 129. 130 

Hanlon, F. R 73 

Hanna, John W 90 

Hansee, Martha Lois 144 

Hansen, Albert 58. 90 

Hanson. A. G 182 

Hanson. Howard A 153. 158 

Harley, C. S 181 

Harnett. Mrs. L. K 185 

Harper. F. C 163 

Harriman. E. H 59 

Harriman Line Enters Seattle 48 

Harrington. Mark Walrod.... 144. 145 

Harris. George W 157 

Harrison. Clinton A 58 

Hartman. John P 96. 135. 161 

Hartvig. Nels 163 

Harvey, Jack 23 

Hasegawa, H 182 

Hawley & Lane 69 

Hawthorne. Mrs. H. A 140 

Hayden. John Louis 144 



Page 

Hayes. Robert G 1 38 

Head, Robert G 129 

Hedges, S. H 161 

Heffernan, J. T 153. 158. 181 

Heilbron. George H 131. 140 

Heilbron. Mrs. George H 184 

Hemrich. Andrew. 88.89.90.95. 161 

Hemrich. John. Jr 90 

Hemrich, John, Sr 90 

Henry. F. C 1 72 

Henry. H. C 

90. 161. 166. 181. 182. 185 

Henry. P. M 182 

Henry. William Elmer 146 

Hewer. Col. William H 93 

Higday. Hamilton 72 

Higgins. David 129 

Hill. Alice S 90 

Hill. Charles 144 

Hill. Edgar K 145 

Hill. Homer M 133.134 

Hill. James J 

11. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56 

57. 58, 59. 60. 61. 62. 63.65. 132 

Hill. Samuel 193 

Hills, John S 23 

Hinckley, T. D 23. 24. 1 70 

Hindshaw. Henry Havelock 144 

Hirade. K 182 

Hodgdon. Ray L 136 

Hodges. L. K 131 

Hoge Building 169 

Hoge. James D 58. 131 

136. 158. 161. 165. 169. 182. 183 

Hoge. John 131. 168 

Hole, G. Alston 180 

Holgate. John C 19. 23 

Holgate. Lemuel J 143 

Holgate. Milton 25 

Holman. Alfred 130 

Holt, G. V 161. 183 

Home Electric Co 124 

Horton. Annie E 90 

Horton. C. E 177. 181 

Horton, Dexter 

7. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. 38. 53 

58. 165. 176. 177. 178. 192. 193 

Horton, Julius 90 

Horton, Rebecca 138 

Howard, Capt. Daniel S 20 

Howard, D. K 90 



Index 



267 



Page 

Howell, C. H 181 

Howells & Stokes 166 

Hoyt, Fred 163 

Hoyt, John P 10. 1 10, 140 

Hudson's Bay Company 35 

Hughes, C. A 131. 135 

Hughes, E. C 

89, 114, 132. 140. 158. 161 

Hughes, W. J 123 

Hughes, Wm. H 140 

Humes, T. J 34. 68 

Hunt, Leigh S. J 130, 131 

Hunt, Mrs. L. S. J 184 

Hyde. D. N 31 

I 

Independent Asphalt Co 69 

Indian War 23, 24,25 

Ingraham, E. S 138. 139, 140 

J 

Jackson, Andrew 83 

Jackson, D. B 96 

Jackson, F. H 182 

Jackson. S. C 180 

Jacobs, Orange 

34. 39. 58. 90. 139. 157 

Jalon, Louis 180 

James, James A 75, 76. 189 

Jamieson, Smith & Cotting 43 

Janeck. L. 183 

Janson, Ivar 183 

Japanese Commercial Bank 182 

Jefferson, E. G 43 

Jennings, Judson T 185 

Jennings, W. A 157 

Johnson, Andrew 1 6 

Johnson, Charles Willis 146 

Johnson, Orson Bennet 144, 145 

Johnston, Robert P 93 

Johnston, W. J 180 

Jones, Daniel 153 

Jones, H. E 163 

Jones, John P 1 72 

Jones, Reuben W 140. 141 

Jones, Thomas E 89 

Jordan. John T 31. 34 

K 

Kaklke, A. C 182 

Kane, Thomas F 145 

Kawai, S 182 

Keene, W. A 182 



Page 

Kelleher, Daniel 180, 182 

Kellogg, Anna L 90 

Kellogg. David 90 

Kellogg, Gardner 170, 171 

Kellogg, M. V 163 

Kempster, A. L 119 

Kennedy, Julia E 140 

Kenneth Block 29 

Kenney, Jessie 90 

Kenney, Samuel 70, 157 

Kerr, Kenneth C 135 

Kerry, A. S 161. 181 

Kilbourne, Dr. E. C 104. 

105. 106. 107. 114, 122, 123, 124 

Kincaid, Trevor Charles Digby 

144. 146 

King. Geo. H 140 

Kinnear, Angie C 90 

Kinnear, George 29, 

43, 44, 58, 80, 84, 90, 100, 151 

Kinnear, J. R 90 

Kinnear Park 151 

Kinnear, Rebecca 90 

Kinnear, Ritchie M 153 

Kinnear Water System 80 

Kirkland Land & Improvement Co. 90 

Kirschner, F 88, 90 

Kittinger, C. H 158 

Kjos. O. A 181 

Klondike Excitement 1 I 

Koch, Rev. Samuel 191 

Knoff, A. E 158 

Knox, Andrew 153 

Krutz, Harry 180 

L 

Ladd, W. M 181 

LaFarge, O. H. P 180, 191 

LaGrave, C. L 182 

Lake Union Area 33 

Lake Washington Area 33 

Lake Washington Canal 84-99 

Lake Washington Canal Association 

84, 96 

Lake Washington Shore Lands 

Annexed 33 

Lakeview Park 151 

Lament, C. B 182 

Lament, Hammond 131 

Lamping, George B 153 

Land Area of Seattle 33 

Lander. Judge Edward 143. 165 



268 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Landes, Henry 144, 145, 146 

Lane. J. F 163. 182. 193 

Langfitt, William C 93 

Lantz, Harvy 146 

Larrabee. C. H 130, 174 

Latimer. N. H 

58, 124, 138. 161. 177. 181 

Latimer. W. G 137 

Laurelhurst and Yesler Annexed.... 33 

Lawton. C. W 153 

Leary. John 8. 15. 28. 34. 43. 

44. 45. 53. 70. 81. 90. 102. 

134, 155. 156. 157. 165, 192, 193 

Leddy, Jcimes 1 14 

Lehigh. Daniel F 173 

Lenoir. Capt. Basil 1 75 

Leonard. A. W 119. 158 

Levinson. Joseph 131 

Leweliyn. W. H 134 

Lewis Bros 90 

Lewis. Howard H 90 

Lewis. Judge J. R 41. 81. 139. 157 

Lewis & Wiley 69 

Libby, John B 24. 138 

Library, Seattle Public 184-191 

Lincoln Beach Park 151 

Lindeberg. Jafet 165. 182 

Lilly. Chas. H. & Co 14 

Lincoln. W. S 72 

Lindley, Hervey 181 

Lindsay. Robert H 58. 191 

Lindstrom. S. S 182 

Ling, Ernest E 158 

Lippy. T. S 135 

Llwyd. Rev. J. P. D 189. 190. 191 

Little. F. N 83 

Loomis. R. P 182 

Lord. C. J 181 

Lord. D. R 139 

Lottery Law Passed 40 

Louch. Augustine & Q) 90 

Lough. Thomas Warner 1 44 

Low. John N 19. 20, 21 

Lowman, J. D 

90. 115. 117. 153, 

157. 158. 159. 160. 164. 182, 183 
Lowman & Hanford Stationery & 

Printing Co 14, 90, 122. 130 

Ludlow, James P 154 

Lumber Industry 15 

Lumberman 135 



Page 

Lundberg, A. T 153 

Luther, Otto L 163 

Lutz, D. H 182 

Lyon, George G 1 34 

Lyon, John M 171, 173 

Lyons, James H.. M. D 191 

Mc 

McAllaster. Ralph C 153 

McCammon, Edward Eugene 146 

McCargar. A. T 136 

McCaustland, Elmer James 146 

McClellan, Gen. George B 85 

McClure. Horace 133 

McClure & Taylor 157 

McCombs, James 80 

McConnaha. Eugenia 1 38 

McConnaha. George 1 38 

McConnaha, G. N 31 

McConnaha, Ursula 138 

McCord, E. S 181 

McCoy, Patrick 166, 181 

McDermott. Frank 158 

McDonald. F. A 140, 141 

McDonald. J. R 43 

McDougal. Malcom 180 

McEwan. Alexander F 180. 191 

McFadden. Judge 39 

McGillis, H. L 153 

McGilvra. John J 7, 28, 29, 38, 

40, 58. 76. 77, 78. 91, 92. 94. 141 

McGilvra. O. C 96 

McGraw. John H 8. 86. 88. 

89. 95. 96. 97. 120. 144. 157. 161 

McHugh. P. J 69 

McKenzie, D. A 89. 90 

McKinley, James 192 

McLaren, Geo. S 161 

McMicken, Maurice 

110, 114. 132. 181 

McNally. F. L 175 

McNamara & Larabee 130 

McNaughl. James 7. 38. 51. 79 

McNaught. J. F 90 

McNaught. Mrs. Joseph F 184 

McNaught Land & Investment Co. 90 

McNatt. F 24 

McPherson. J. L 159 

McVay. J. T 182 

McWilliams. James A 120 



Index 



269 



M Page 

Macdonald. H. C 182 

Macdougall & Southwick Co 14, 90 

Macdougall. J. B 58. 140 

Mackintosh, Mrs. A. A 138 

Mackintosh, Angus.... 7. 10, 29, 38 

43, 44, 53, 124, 138, 157, 164 

Mackintosh, Judge Kenneth 29 

MacMichael, R. H 181 

Maddocks, M. R 90 

Madison Street Cable Co 1 14, 117 

Magnusson, Carl Edward 146 

Mail Facilities 170-172 

Major, Rev. W. A 191 

Malloy, J., Jr 180 

Manchester, George 1 38 

Mann, Seth 159 

Manney, W. F. & Co 69 

Maple, Jacob 19 

Maple, Samuel 19 

Marion, A. F 136 

Mamiaduke. J. C 161. 163, 165 

Martin, F. J 181 

Mathias, Franklyn 7. 31, 38 

Matsumoto, M 182 

Mattox, C. E 161 

Matzen, Geo 163 

Maxwell. J. W 182 

Maxwell, S. L 129 

Maynard, Dr. D. S 21. 22. 23 

Mayors of Seattle 34 

Meany. Edmond Stephen 

134. 144. 145. 161 

Meem, Gilbert S 171 

Meigs, George A 23 

Meikle, Jas. B 158, 160 

Meisnest, Frederick William 146 

Mehlhorn Block 24 

Mellen, Charles S 56, 57, 59 

Mendell, G. H 85 

Mercer, Alice 138 

Mercer, Asa Shinn 143. 145 

Mercer, Eliza 138 

Mercer, Mary 138 

Mercer, Suseui 138 

Mercer, Thomas 24, 25, 84, 143 

Merchants National Bank 90, 124 

Merril. R. D 166, 181 

Merritt, H. L 181 

Metcalfe, James B 

89, 147, 150. 153 

Metropolitan Bank 182 



Page 
Metropolitan Building Company.... 

143. 165 

Meydenbauer, William 192 

Meyers, Henry Coffinberry 144 

Middaugh, Horace 181 

Middleton, C. P 141 

Miles, Nelson A 85 

Miles, Z. C 157 

Milham, Samuel T 80 

Miller. Amasa S 81 

Miller. C. S 181. 182 

Miller. John F 34 

Milwaukee Line 48 

Minnehan, T. B 181 

Minor, Dr. T. T 

....34, 43, 130, 140, 141, 157, 158 

Mitchell, S. Z 120 

Mitton. Dr. A. P 110. 114 

Mix, H. W 163 

Moore, C. W 70 

Moore, James A 96, 97 

98. 124. 161, 165. 166, 167, 169 

Moore, Wm. Hickman 34, 161 

Moran Bros. Co 12, 94 

Moran, Robert. 12, 13, 34, 74, 82, 95 

More, Charles Church 146 

Morris, C. L 182 

Morris, T. B 64. 182 

Morris & Whitehead 94 

Morrison, Samuel 191 

Moritz, Robert Edouard... 146 

Moss, D. H 181 

Moss, John T 24 

Moxlie, Robert 1 70 

Murray, James A 180 

Murray, Marcus M 180 

Murphy, James 191 

Murphy. T. G 130 

Myers, C. O 175 

N 

Nadeau, I. A 90. 161 

National Bank of Commerce.. ..90, 181 

National City Bank 182 

Navy Yard Located 12 

Nebraska (Battleship) Subsidy 12 

Nelson, Jabez B 131 

Nettleton, C. M 136, 158 

Neufelder, E. C 183 

Newberger, J. H 182 

Newell Milling & Manufacturing 

Co 90 



210 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Newspapers of Seattle 128-136 

Nicoll, G. B 183 

Niesz, U. R 89 

Nonnan, J. C 181 

Norris, W. G 163 

Northern Bank & Trust Co 181 

Northern Pacific 7. 15, 36. 

39. 40, 41. 42, 43, 44. 46. 

47. 49. 51. 52. 56. 57, 58. 

59. 63. 65. 81. 94. 101. 102. 155 

Northern Securities Co 63 

Nottingham. William 168. 193 



Ober. Caroline Haven 145 

Occidental Hotel 27 

Ogden. F. D 140 

Olmsted Bros 161 

Olmsted. J. C 148 

Olson & Mellen 69 

Olson. Olof 182 

Ordway. Miss L. W 1 38 

Oregon Improvement Co 41 

Oregon - Washington Railroad & 

Navigation Co 48 

Oriental American Bank 182 

Osborn, Frederick Arthur 146 

Osgood. F. H 43, 

85. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104, 

105. 106. 107. 110, 112, 114, 116 

Ottesen & Jensen 69 

Outer Harbor Area 33 

Owen, Harry A 163 



Pacific Bridge Co 83 

Pacific Coast Company 48 

Pacific Electric Co 123 

Pacific Fisherman 1 35 

Pacific Meat Co 90 

Padelford, Frederick M 146, 191 

Pantages, Alexander 1 7 

Park Commissioners 153 

Parks 147-153 

Parker, Isaac 90 

Parkin, Joseph 116 

Parkinson. J. P 135 

Parrington. Vernon Louis 146 

Parry. Will H 

12, 13. 75. 94. 95. 131 

136. 158. 160. 161. 182. 187. 189 

Parsons. W. H 181 



Page 

Paschall. George M 89, 95 

Patten, Chas. E 181 

Patterson. C. E 140 

Paul, Frank 97 

Peachy, W. S 182 

Peabody, Charles E 183 

Pederson, Hans 69. 183 

Pederson, Otto S. J 182 

Penfield. Capt 120 

People's Savings Bank 90, 1 83 

Perkins, S. A 186 

Perkins, Wm. T 181 

Peters, William A 162, 183 

Peterson, Andrew 69 

Peterson, M. W 181 

Peterson. Nils B 80. 81 

Phelps. Byron 34. 76. 90 

Phelps. Miss 138 

Philbrick. C. A 181 

Phillip. David 23. 177 

Phillips. Dorcas 1 38 

Phillips. Hilda 138 

Phillips. W. R 181 

Phillips. Horton & Co 1 77 

Phinney, Nellie 91 

Pigott. William 1, 140, 141, 161 

Pike, Harvey 84 

Pike, John 143 

Piles, S. H 158 

Pinkham. A. S 31. 143 

Piper. Edgar B 131, 132 

Piper, George U 131,136 

Plat of Seattle Filed 21 

Playgrounds 147-153 

Plummer, Charles 30, 170 

Plummer & Chase 1 70 

Police Relief Association 91 

Pollock. E. W 136 

Poison. Perry 158. 182 

Pontius. Margaret J 91 

Pontius, R. W 139 

Pope, Gen. John 85 

Port Commission 71 -73 

Portland Cracker Co 91 

Post-Intelligencer 

23. 57. 58. 76. 77, 130. 

131. 132. 133, 187, 188, 189, 196 

Post, John J 157 

Postmasters of Seattle 170-172 

Powell, Capt. Chas. F 85 

Powell, Capt. O. A 72, 96, 97 



Index 



271 



Page 

Powell, Leonard Jackson 1 45 

Powles. J. B 161 

Prater. W. C 182 

Pratt. John W 131 

Press-Times 1 34 

Pretton, George Hyde 105 

Price, John G 161. 181 

Prosch. T. W 136. 140. 158. 171 

Prosch, Thomas 1 30 

Prosser, W. F 87 

Prosser, W. T 136 

Puget Sound Area 33 

Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging 

Co 91 

Puget Sound Construction Co 44 

Puget Sound Daily Dispatch 130 

Puget Sound National Bank 91 

Puget Sound Power Co 125 

Puget Sound Traction Light & Pow- 
er Co 118, 125 

Pyle. J. G 133, 186. 187. 188. 189 

Q 

Quigley. Edward G 144 

R 

Railroad Avenue Established 50 

Railway & Marine News 135 

Rainier Ave. Electric Ry. Co 1 16 

Rainier Beach Annexed 33 

Rainier Development Co 69 

Rainier Power & Ry. Co 115. 124 

Randolph. F. F 153 

Ranke. Otto.. 153 

Rautenberg. A. T 163 

Ravenna Annexed 33 

Raymond, Capt. C. W 85 

Reber. E. L 135 

Redelsheimer, Julius 58 

Reed, M. E 181 

Reekie. R. J 183 

Reeves, Charles Francis 144, 145 

Regrades of Seattle Streets 64-70 

Reliance Loan & Trust Co 91 

Remsberg, C. E 72, 96, 97 

Renton, Capt 192 

Renton and Talbot 39 

Revelle. Geo. H 163 

Reynolds, George 129 

Rhoades. W. L 161 

Rhodes. A. J 182 



Page 

Rice. R. D 37 

Richards. Frank H 87 

Richardson. Oliver Huntington 1 46 

Riley. I. J 18! 

Rinehart. W. V.. Jr 182 

Roberts, John W 161 

Roberts. Milnor 146 

Robertson, Tracey H 158 

Robertson, William B 91 

Rochester. G. A. C 191 

Rochester. Junius 184 

Ronald. Judge J. T 34. 140 

Rosenberg, Samuel 58 

Roseleaf, Otto 153 

Ross, John 24 

Ross. J. D 127 

Rowley. H. W 181 

Ruckman. W. C 163 

Russel. Eunice 1 38 

Russell, George F 171. 180 

Russell. Thomas S 30 

Ryckman. J. H 153 



Sabrine. John S I 74 

Sackman-Phillips Inv. Co 91 

Salmon Bay Area 33 

Sander. Fred E. 91. 114. 115. 116. 125 

Sanders. Leroy 135 

Sanders, Thomas 96 

Sanderson, Mrs. C. M 1 38 

Sanderson, Mrs. J. H 184 

Sanford. Rollin 183 

Sartori. R 91 

Saunders. Chas. W 152. 153 

Savery, William 146 

Sawyer. A. P 132 

Scandinavian American Bank....91, 181 

Schaefer. Jacob 191 

Schaeffer. L. P 181 

Schmitz. Ferdinand 151. 153. 183 

Schmitz Park 151 

Schoenfeld. L 58 

Schoenfeld. H. A 163 

Schoenfeld. Ralph A 180 

Schools 137-141 

Schram. John 58. 140. 157. 193 

Schwabacher Bros. & Co., Inc. 

91, 128 

Schwabacher. Sigmund I 1 

Schwagerl. E. A 152 

Scott. Henry W 83 



212 



The City That Made Itself 



Page 

Scott, Roswell 158 

Scripps. E. W 135 

Scruby. W. W 181 

Scurry. John G 89. 91 

Seattle Brewing & Malting &> 91 

Seattle Brick & Tile Co 91 

Seattle Central Ry. Co 115. 117 

Seattle Commercial Club 163 

Seattle Construction & Dry Dock 

Co 14 

Seattle Dry Dock & Shipbuilding 

Co 91 

Seattle Electric Co 116. 124. 125 

Seattle Electric Light Co 120 

Seattle Electric Lighting Co 123 

Seattle Electric Railway & Power 

Co 105 

Seattle Gas Co 125 

Seattle Gas & Elec. Light Co 91 

Seattle General Contract Co 95 

Seattle General Electric Co 123 

Seattle Hotel 27 

Seattle Hardware Co 91 

Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Rail- 
road Co 

43. 45. 46. 47, 49. 50. 51, 60, 85 

Seattle Lighting Co 125. 193 

Seattle National Bank 91. 182 

Seattle Selected as Name 21, 22 

Seattle Star 135 

Seattle Steam Heat & Power Co. 

113. 125 

Seattle Spirit 6. 12 

Seattle Traction Co 112. 1 1 7 

Seattle & Lake Washington Water- 
way Co 95 

Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad 

38. 39. 41. 48. 49. 50 

Seil. N. H 182 

Semple, Eugene 

87. 88. 89.91. 93.94. 95 

Semple, Miss 94 

Settle, Ettie 138 

Settle, Josiah 31 

Sewers of Seattle 70, 71 

Shannon, James 180, 183 

Shannon, Dr. W. A 140 

Shaubut, B. F 134 

Shaughnessy, M. J 182 

Sheafe, C. M 153. 191 

Sheffield. W. M 136. 161 



Page 
Shepard. Chas. E 

186. 187. 188. 189. 191 

Shinn. W. J 96 

Shively. J. H 158 

Shope, Judge S. P 86 

Shorey, O. C 31, 143 

Shorrock, E 140, 141, 161 

Shoudy, W. H 34 

Shrewsbury, J. E 152, 153 

Shultze, Paul 51 

Sibley, N. R 163 

Sidney Sewer Pipe & Terra Cotta 

Works 91 

Simpson, S. G 91 

Singerman & Sons 14 

Skinner, D. E 182 

Skinner. Geo. N 181 

Slater, J. C 158 

Sloan, Samuel 91 

Slocum, Miss Mary 168 

Smith Building 1 67 

Smith, Burns Lyman 168, 169 

Smith, C. J 

56. 57. 140. 153, 158, 161, 181 

Smith, Charles Wesley 

185, 186, 188, 190, 191 

Smith, Judge Eben 191 

Smith, Rev. Edw. Lincoln 140 

Smith, Everett 140 

Smith, Francis Ell Burnham 145 

Smith, Gilbert 136 

Smith, Grant 69, 166 

Smith, Dr. Henry A 25, 138 

Smith, J. Allen 145, 191 

Smith, L. C 167, 168, 169, 193 

Smith, Mrs. L. C 168 

Smith, L. P 34 

Smith, Miss Mary 138 

Smith, Rufus H 180 

Smith, Stewart E 130, 136 

Smith, Victor Hugo 

104. 105. 114. 180 

Smith. Wakefield & David 83 

Smith's Cove 23, 29, 32 

Smithers, E. M 84 

Smithers, Fred 96 

Snively, Dr. J. H 163 

Snoke, A. J 184, 185 

Snyder, Alfred 157 

Snyder, Andrew J 1 72 

Sohns, Louis R 81 



Index 



273 



Page 

Solberg, A. H 182 

Solner, N. B 136. 182. 183 

Southeast Seattle Annexed 33 

South Park Annexed 33 

South Park Land & Imp. Co 91 

South Seattle Land Co 91 

South Seattle Annexed 33 

Spangler, J. W 182 

Sparling. F. H 120 

Spencer. George A 140. 141 

Spencer. O. A 181 

Spencer. R. R 88. 181 

Spring Hill Water Co 79. 81 

Squire. Watson C 

9. 10. 12. 91, 124. 168 

Stacy. Ralph S 161. 163 

Standard Furniture Co 14 

Start. Edwin Augustus 146 

State Bank of Seattle 182 

Steele's Landing 39 

Steel. Will A 136 

Steenstrup. Paul 69 

Stetson, George W 55 

Stetson & Post Mill Co 91 

Stevens. W. E 163 

Stevenson. Adali 86 

Stewart. A. B. 1 10. 1 1 4. 1 61 . 182. 183 

Stewart. Mrs. A. B 184. 191 

Stewart. George M 171 

Stewart & Holmes Drug Co 14. 90 

Stimson, C. D. 161 

Stine. J. Howard 153 

Stirratt & Geotz 169 

Stone. Charles A 113 

Stone. C. P 31. 34. 123. 157. 158 

Stone. Edward Noble 146 

Stone & Webster 113. 

116. 117. 118. 119. 123. 124. 125 
St. Paul. Minneapolis & Manitoba 

Railway 49 

Stratton. Julius A 190. 191 

Street Cars of Seattle 100-1 19 

Strickler. John A 24 

Struve. Frederick K 180. 182 

Struve. Henry G 

34. 110. 114. 139. 157 

Stuart. E. A 166, 182 

Sullivan. Frank M 1 36 

Sullivan. John 91 

Sun 135 

Swallwell. J. A 158. 181 



Page 

Swanstrom. Mrs. F. E 94 

Sweeney, Edward F 

88. 89, 91. 158, 181 

Symons. Thos. W 85 



Tacoma Chosen N. P. Terminus.... 38 

Takahashi. C. T 182 

Talbot. W. H 166 

Taylor, A. S 133. 158 

Taylor. Charles A 191 

Taylor. J. L 91 

Taylor. Joseph Marion 144 

Taylor. W. H 140. 157 

Telegraph 1 72-1 74 

Telephone 1 74-1 75 

Terry. C. C 

.20. 30. 129. 143, 165. 173 

Terry. Charles T 91 

Terry. Ed. L 91. 143 

Terry. Lee 19, 20, 21 

Teste Du Bailler. G 180 

Thaanum. William 183 

Thayer. Miss Mary 144, 145 

Third Street & Suburban Railway 

Co 116. 117. 124 

Thompson. J. W 153 

Thompson. L. W 158 

Thomsen. Moritz 181 

Thomson. David 146 

Thomson. J. M 110. 114 

Thomson. Reginald H 

26. 27. 64. 65. 66, 67, 68. 69. 

72. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 82. 126 

Tibbell. Miss Mary 138 

Tilton, General 38 

Times 13. 130. 133. 134 

Times Printing Co 134 

Toklas & Singermam 24 

Town Crier 1 35 

Treat. H. W 96. 126. 135. 161 

Trefethen. Daniel B 191 

Trenholme, J. D 153 

Trimble. Geo. W 181 

Turner. George 131, 132 

U 

Union Electric Co 91. 113, 124, 125 

Union Pacific 48 

Union Saving & Trust Co 

131. 169, 182 

Union Trunk Line 115. 117 



214 



The City That Made Itseli 



Page 

Union Water Co. System 80, 82 

University of Washington 142, 146 

V 

Van Asselt, Henry 19 

Van Brocklin, J. W 91 

Van De Vanter, A. T 91 

Vickner, Edwin John 146 

Vilas, C. E 180. 183 

Villard, Henry 41, 123 

Virtue, Geo. A 163 

W 

Wa Chong Co 91 

Waddell, Isaiah 192 

Wadleigh, W. 1 79 

Wagner, E. C 183 

Walker, Cyrus 91 

Walker, R. S 181 

Wallace. Hugh C 181 

Walsh. Julius S ' 89 

Ward, Dillis B 139, 140, 143 

Ward, Kirk C 130, 133 

Ward, Mark 130 

Washburn, R. C 131. 191 

Washington Electric Co 1 25 

Washington Improvement Co 102 

Washington Savings & Loan Asso- 
ciation 183 

Washington Territory, First Grand 

Lottery of 41 

Water Area 33 

Waterhouse, Frank 163 

Waterway's Company, Organized.. 89 

Watkins, F. W 106 

Watson, J. R 128. 129 

Weber, Andrew 191 

Webster, David H 8 

Webster, E. E 161 

Webster, John 142 

Webster, M. E 91 

Weed, Mayor G. A 34, 70 

Weinzirl, John 146 

Well. Mrs. L. W. J 138 

Wells, E. H 94, 135 

Wells, E. H. & Co 135 

West, F. W 180 

Weston, S. P 133. 135 

West Seattle Annexed 33 



Page 

West Seattle Cable Railway Co 115 

West Seattle Land & Improvement 

Co 81 

West Street, Lake Union & Park 

Transit Co 104 

West Street & North End Railway 

Co 114. 116. 117 

Wetmore. Frank 1 38 

Wetmore. Jane 1 38 

Whatcom Route 24 

Whitcomb. David 167. 182 

Whitcomb. G. Henry 166, 167 

White, Charles A 91 

White, C. F 161, 163. 166 

White, Harry 34 

White, Mary 138 

White. William H 9. 90. 139. 153 

Whitfield, William 45 

Whitler, E. H 115 

Whitman, Paul 72 

Whitney, H. E 140 

Whitson, M. J 166 

Whittlesey, Wm. H 158 

Whitworth, F. H 

43, 65, 74, 144, 145 

Whitworth, Rev. George F 144, 145 

"Who Cut the Stick?" 70 

Wholley, John Henry 144 

Wilcox. Mrs. C. H 191 

Wiley. CHfford 182 

Willard. Frank E 141 

Willard. Ruby 138 

Williams. Benzette 74. 82 

Williams. C. D 153 

Williams, E. A 1 36 

Williams. H. R 161 

Williams. W. R 163 

Willis, Park Weed 158 

Wilmire. Carrie Odell 145 

Wilson, John L 

97, 132, 133, 159. 161 

Wilson. Worrall 182 

Wilson & Hall 130 

Wilt. Mrs. Clara McCarthy 143 

Winkenwerder. Hugo 146 

Winsor. Miss Agnes 138 

Winsor. Richard 140. \4,\ 

Wishaar. E. B 136 

Wittier. Edward F 89. 91 



Index 



275 



Page Page 

Witty, E. J 183 Y 

Woldson Marton 180 Yandell, C. B 136, 158, 159 160 

Wood, James A 135.161 Yesler, Henry L. 7 2\' 

Wood, Wm. D 34. 90. 91. 114 22. 23, 27 30 "3'4 38"'4r 53' 

Wooden Ira 143 79, 128, 129.' 157. 184. '185! 186 

Woodruff, Samuel C 157 Yesler-Leary Buildin? 27 

Wollery, J. H 91 Yesler's Mill 

Woolfolk L. H 182 6. '22. 23. ■37r39;"4"l. 79 

Wright, George E 191 Young, Angus W. 139 

Wright. W. J 1 70 Young. Dr. 76 

^"sthoff, F. H 157 Young, George W '"m, 91 

WyckoJ, A. B 12 Young, M. H 113. 115 

Wyckoff, L. V 24. 31 Youngs. L. B. 83 



